Operation Tastykake
by AshleyNicole86
Summary: It's just another day for Stephanie Plum, she blows up her apartment and breaks up with Joe. Who will she live with? And what happens when someone tries to kill her and Ranger? Will it push them closer together? Babe Fic!
1. Tastykake is Down

**Authors Note: This is my first Plum story and I hope you enjoy. Please review if you would like me to continue. Thanks! **

**As always I don't own it!**

You know those days when you're pretty sure that everything that could go wrong has? And then something else goes wrong? Well I was having one of those days. A skip had stunned me with my own stun gun, I'd been rolled in garbage, I'd lost Grandma Mazur at the mall and then I had lost my purse. Today was not my dad. On my way home I had thought to myself 'well, at least I didn't blow anything up'. I should have stopped while I was ahead.

I had just walked into my apartment and found a bomb. It was a big bomb with a red countdown clock that was scarily close to zero. I grabbed my hamster Rex and high-tailed it out of my apartment. I pulled the fire alarm and started yelling at everyone to get out.

I ran down the stairs and deposited Rex at the Deli across the street and ran back to the building. I had maybe 8 mintues to make sure everyone was else. I told my building sup, Dillon what was going on and he ran door to door with me, making sure everyone was out. We ran to the parking lot. We had about two minutes left as I started across the lot. Dillon was already across the street with the tenants explaining things. I turned around to look at the building and BAM!

I was thrown a good thirty feet across the lot and into the street. I landed on my side and I felt something crunch. My front felt crispy. Shit. I heard Tank before I saw him. I think my eyes were still closed.

"CODE RED! TASTYKAKE IS DOWN! I REPEAT CODE RED, TASTYKAKE IS DOWN!" Tank was bending right over me now. "Stephanie, can you open your eyes?"

I opened them and tried to give tank a reassuring smile but it hurt my cheeks. I felt the air pressure change and all of the sudden Diesel was leaning over me.

"Christ. Steph? Are you okay?" I couldn't seem to move so I blinked yes. His eyes opened wider. "Ok big guy, turn around and pretend you didn't just see this. We'll be at St. Mary's. Tank turned. He didn't want to mess with Diesel. Diesel wasn't human.

Diesel scooped my up and I moaned in pain. I closed my eyes and the air pressure changed again. I opened my eyes and we were at the ER. I knew I was gonna pass out so I decided to try talking again.

"Didja jest pop me here?" My words were slightly slurred.

"Yep." He smiled down at me.

"Howdja know?" I was surprised he understood.

"I get a text message every time you blow something up." I remember nodding.

"Makes sense." And then blackness.


	2. Batoffice Go Boom

**A/N: Hello all! Thank you for the reviews! I hope everyone likes this chapter. Please Review, review, review! :) **

**I don't own these characters. The humor is all mine but I learned from Ms. Evanovich. :)**

It was the pain that woke me up. I'm almost certain. I'd been woken up a lot of ways, this was definitely one of the worst. I knew for certain that I was in the hospital. I could hear the heart monitor beeping away before I opened my eyes. Christ, a heart monitor? How bad was I?

"Not that bad Steph, you'll live." I hated when Diesel read my mind. I sighed and opened my eyes slowly. All of the men in my life sat lined up against the wall.

Diesel was slouched down and his hair was shorter than the last time I saw him. Diesel was sort of a work acquaintance. He popped into my life for a few days and then popped out again. He was all bad boy with huge muscles, torn jeans and a leather jacket. Diesel was like tequila, he looked amazing but the consequences of too much involved losing your clothes without remembering how or when. Diesel was magic.

Joe Morelli was my on again off again boyfriend, he was also a cop. Morelli looked pissed. We were currently in an on again phase in our relationship and I knew he wouldn't be pleased by this. If Diesel was tequila then Morelli was whiskey. He could be amazingly smooth and well balanced like a single malt scotch or rough and tumble like Jack Daniels. You never knew if Morelli was a good idea until you knew which version you were getting.

Last but not least was Ranger. Ranger was a bounty hunter and security agent. Ranger and I had gotten very close a few times and he loved me in his own way. He had saved me more times than I could count. He had killed for me. Ranger was like a shot of the best vodka. He made you feel warm and like you had a fire smoldering in your belly. Sometimes Ranger made me think my panties were on fire. I'm pretty sure Ranger is really Batman, but I haven't been able to verify that yet.

"Babe." Babe could mean a lot coming from Ranger.

"Hey guys…" I wasn't quite sure what to say. I've blown up a lot of things, mostly cars. And I've burned down a few buildings, but I thought this might take the cake. "Did everyone get out okay?"

Surprisingly Diesel was the one to answer. "Yeah Steph, you got em all out. I'm proud of you kid." He stood up and gave me a kiss on my forehead. "I've gotta go catch a bad guy. I'll see you in the morning." And he walked out.

I stared at Joe and Ranger.

"I need to talk to Stephanie alone." Joe said without looking at Ranger.

Ranger nodded and looked at me. "I'll be back."

Joe didn't look at me and his voice sounded weary when he spoke. "I can't do this anymore Stephanie. I won't do this anymore. Every time the phone rings I wonder if it's someone who's going tell me that this time you were in the car, or in the building. You need a new job. No more bounty hunting."

I nodded my head; I knew this had been coming. He couldn't stand my job. I didn't know how much quitting would help though. It wasn't my job that was the problem, it was my life. Still I would give it a shot for him.

"And no more Ranger. No social visits, no jobs, no contact. None."

I stared at him. Ranger was my friend, my mentor, my…hero. I couldn't just stop talking to him. I loved Ranger. Maybe not in the same way I loved Joe, I wasn't sure. I knew I couldn't shut him out though. And I didn't want to. I was pissed Joe would give me this ultimatum. He must know I that I wouldn't, that I couldn't, do it.

I didn't say anything but he took the hardening in my eyes as my answer. He shook his head like he couldn't believe it and then left without another word.

Ranger slipped in as the door was closing.

"Babe." He sighed and came over to me. I was surprised when he sat on the edge of my bed. "You didn't have to do that for me Steph. I'll understand if you want to reconsider."

I shook my head no. "Come on Ranger. Give up before I've even seen the batcave?" No way. I smiled and it hurt my cheeks. He leaned forward and kissed me on the lips. My heart monitor skipped a few beats.

"Babe!" Ranger laughed. "You and Rex gonna come stay with me at Rangeman? I have all my men trying to figure out who did this, but there isn't a lot to go on."

My heart stopped and then started again. "Yeah, just until I can find a new place..if that's okay. There was a note."

"A note?" He sounded curious now. He didn't know about the note.

"Yeah. It said to tell you hello. No signature." Rangers face went hard. He didn't like knowing that he was the reason I had almost been BBQ'd.

"Christ Steph. Joe is right. I'm not good for you."

"I don't care. Does the offer of a safe hour still stand?" I hoped he would say yes. I couldn't stay at my Mom's in this condition. She was probably ironing and knocking back something that looked like iced tea but was a hell of a lot stronger.

"Yeah, it still stands. The doctor said I could take you home now. Nurse is gonna come help you get dressed. I'll be in the hall."

Fifteen minutes later I was in scrubs, my clothes had been wrecked beyond recognition. I had a bottle of some heavy duty pain pills, aloe vera for my burns and instructions to come get checked out in three days.

Ranger helped me into his Porsche; Ranger's cars were always fast, always black and always expensive. They were like Ranger, dark and exotic. I noticed Rex in the backseat and tears came to my eyes.

We were about a block away from Rangeman when the sky lit up with a flash of light and a huge boom.

"Shit, they bombed the batoffice! Who was in there?!" Ranger didn't usually have a lot to say, but now he was speechless. His phone chirped and he answered it automatically.

"Ranger. Oh thank god. You're sure? Alright. You know the drill."

"There is a drill for this?" I was panicking slightly. I was homeless. Ranger was homeless. My poor hamster was homeless.

"We have drills for everything babe. Everyone is fine. Only Hal was in the building. He got out. Everyone else was working on your apartment. Ella and her husband were on a date. And today is your lucky day babe."

"Lucky?! Everything I own got blown to bits. Morelli broke up with me. You're office and apartment just exploded. I'm covered in first and second degree burns and even though no one let me see, I know I've got half of the hair I started the day with. How can I possibly be considered lucky?"

"Well for one, you didn't get blown to smithereens. Two, were going to the batcave. And I get you all to myself. Guess that makes it my lucky day too." It was one of the moments that I thought my panties might be on fire.


	3. Wayne Manor

**A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews and story alert adds! It means a lot, keep em coming! I hope you enjoy this chapter. **

**I don't own these characters. They are scarily like my family though. Oh what I wouldn't give for a Ranger…or a Diesel.. **

The ride to the batcave was odd for me. Ranger had made me take two of my pills when I got in the car. I was now simultaneously hyper alert and drowsy. I had to wonder if this is what it felt like to be on heavy duty drugs. If it was than I had a whole new respect for Mooner.

I tried to follow where we were going but my mind was in a million places at once and I couldn't concentrate. I decided to rest my eyes and next thing I knew Ranger was scooping me from the car. I looked up and actually giggled. It wasn't the batcave, it was Wayne Manor.

Ranger carried me to the door which was opened by someone I'd never met. "Are you Alfred?" Another giggle escaped and the guy looked confused.

"Ignore her." Ranger carried me up two flights of stairs and then deposited me on a very comfy bed. "Steph? Ella is asleep but I can wake her up if you would rather her help you get ready for bed?"

"No its okay. You've seen it all anyway." I was a little more awake now and the idea of Ranger taking off my clothes didn't seem all that bad. He stripped me down and grabbed the aloe vera.

I'd never seen Ranger act like this when my clothes were off. He was all business. No flirting, no innuendos. It was a strange experience. He grabbed a huge t-shirt that was sitting on the dresser and tugged it over my head and then tucked me in. A kiss on the forehead and then he was gone. Surreal.

I took a second to look at the room before I turned off the light. It was very nice. Big and modern and tastefully decorated. I flipped off the light and was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

Morning came much too early and I groggily opened my eyes. I had a feint memory of Ranger brushing a kiss on my lips in the early morning. I looked to my left and saw a note on my pillow.

**Steph-**

**I would ask you to stay home but I know you won't do it. Keep the panic buzzer with you at all times. The gun is loaded. Take which ever car you want. Use the credit card to go get yourself some clothes and stuff. Please be careful. **

**R. **

It was a surprisingly chatty note for Ranger and it made me smile. I got up and grabbed a robe so I could check out the goodies on the table. My gun was sitting on the table, except I knew it couldn't be mine because mine had been blown up. So Ranger kept a gun on hand that none of his men would ever be caught dead using. Just for me? Wow. There was a stun gun, cuffs, extra ammo and a cell phone. My eye was simultaneously caught by a black AMEX card and a black hair elastic with a decorative butterfly. What the hell? I looked at it closely. GPS. Awesome. No guy would think to take my hair elastic from me if I was kidnapped.

I started getting a warm feeling in my stomach that I tried to convince myself was from the little black credit card. It had Carlos Manoso on it with my name as an authorized user. What was this? The "Stephanie Plum got all her crap blown up back up kit?"

I grabbed a pair of the black cargo pants and black bikini panties off the dresser. I was surprised Ella had clothes for me here. Well no I wasn't, Ella was prepared for everything. It was spring so I put on a black tank top over the black bra, also thoughtfully provided. Everything had the RangeMan logo embroidered on it in black. It gave me a slight thrill to know Rangers name was on my underwear, but still clothes were the first thing on my to do list today. I remembered my hair. Crap. Ok. That was first on my list.

I webbed the gun holster through my belt loops, pulled on some black tennis shoes and shoved everything else into the black tote bag that had been sitting on desk next to the dresser.

Ella was in the kitchen, calmly scrubbing the counter. She was amazingly put together for someone whose house had just blown up. I mean I was one thing; I was always blowing shit up. She turned and smiled at me as I trudged in.

"Hello Stephanie, I'm very glad to see you are still alive this morning. Would you like some breakfast?"

"Hi Ella, I'm glad your okay too. I almost died when the RangeMan building went up. I'm going to the office and I am sure Lula will want to eat. Do I need to be back at any certain time?"

I walked to Rex's cage. He had food and water and was still sleeping.

"Ranger left no instructions about that."

"Alrighty. Have a good day!" I walked out the kitchen door and around to the garage. Cripes. There were at least 20 cars. I eyed a black Corvette and a black Ducati. Lula would complain about the Corvette, they weren't built for women like Lula. She'd love to ride on the Ducati but it was hard to get skips back to the police station on a bike, let alone shopping bags. And then I saw the Hummer. It was a monster, jacked up with flood lights on the top. I reminded myself not to touch any unlabeled buttons. This is thing probably had rocket launchers.

I hoisted myself up into it, which was painful but so worth it. I started it up and smiled at the loud growl. Whoo! I remoted open the door and I was on my way. Oh. Hmm I didn't know where I was. I keyed the address of the office into the GPS and groaned when I saw that I was an hour away. I pulled out and so did two of the SUV's that had been in the garage. Shit. I hadn't even noticed they were in there. I looked in my mirror and waved to Tank. Tank nodded.

Turns out people get the hell out of your way when you're driving a car that could crush them like an ant. I made it to the office in 40 minutes. I saw Lula and Connie look up when I pulled in. They fanned themselves. They couldn't see through the tinted Hummer windows. They thought I was Ranger. I hopped out and they both visibly relaxed.

They both looked kinda angry though when I walked in. "What?"

Lula all the sudden looked very angry. She was 200 pounds of angry black woman shoved in a size 10 spandex dress. Lula scares me. "What?! WHAT?! I'LL TELL YOU WHAT! YOUR APARTMENT GOT BLOWN UP! THAT'S WHAT! AND ALL WE HEAR IS THAT YOU DISAPEARED FROM THE SCENE WITH A HOT BLONDE GUY! WE'VE BEEN WORRIED SICK!"

Oh. Crap. I hadn't thought about that. "I'm sorry. I…Diesel took me to the hospital and then Joe and I broke up and the Ranger was gonna take me to the batoffice but the batoffice blew up and so Ranger took me to the batcave, which is really Wayne Manor and then I woke up and came straight here. I didn't even eat breakfast. I swear"

"Wait? Diesel? Batcave? I'm having a hot flash here. Whoo. I need to sit down."

I told them all the details and they fanned themselves whenever I mentioned Diesel or Ranger. Usually they would have fanned themselves at the mention of Morelli too but they seemed to be mad at him for breaking up with me. That was nice. "So I need to go get my hair...fuck I don't even know." I was too scared to look at it. "And I need to shop. With Rangers AMEX."

"I'm coming!" Lula grabbed her purse and hightailed it to the office door and then stopped dead. "Uh-Oh Steph. Your grannies out the there."

I looked. She was indeed outside the office. She was poking the Hummer infact. I had a strange urge to beep the remote and see her jump but I didn't want to give her a heart attack. I squelched the urge and walked outside.

"Well hello Stephanie. This is a pip of a car. It looks like a tank. Whose is it?"

"Its Rangers but I'm using it today." I looked around wearily for my mother but she didn't seem to be around.

"Can I drive it?" I looked at Grandma Mazur and had to stop myself from shouting 'NO'.

"Uh, probably not a good idea. But you can come to the mall with Lula and I if you want."

"Well that sounds like a good idea. I could use some new clothes and I just got my social security check. Let me call your mother to tell her." I gladly handed my cell phone over to Grandma and went in to tell Lula. She thought Grandma was a crack up and so we told Connie bye and trooped out to the Hummer. I boosted Grandma into the back seat and then boosted myself up when I realized I had lost Lula. Not easy to do. I looked around and spotted her talking to Tank.

I personally thought Tank and Lula were perfect for each other. They had been fighting for a while because Tank had kittens that he wouldn't get rid of and Lula was allergic. A few weeks ago Lula had finally given and gotten the shots. Now Tank and Lula were back to being engaged.

I honked and Lula strolled back to the Hummer. Lula wanted to me run over people that got in my way but I didn't think that was a very good idea. I drove by my apartment to see what was left. Not much. I checked on my car. Huh. Where was my car? I saw a scorch mark where I had parked it. Oh. Figures.

I shook my head and drove to the mall. My hair stylist was, according to his partner "gone, gone like the wind." Whatever that meant. However Michael did a wonderful job and I was hardly sad at all when I saw my new short 'do. I had beach tousled waves that made me look like I should be in a Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

We went to Saks and I spent way more money that I felt comfortable with on Ranger's card. A card which Lula had almost blown a gasket over when she had seen.

"Holy shit. That's a black AMEX. Those motherfuckers don't have no limit! Let me see that!" She ripped the card out of my hand and her mouth fell open a second time. "Whoa Ranger put your name on this card. Your name is with his name. Wow. I think I'm having another hot flash." She handed me back the card which I then handed to the sales lady. She looked at the card and then at the two scary men in black standing ten feet behind me and looked a little awed.

I looked around. "Where Grandma Mazur?" Lula spotted her looking at scarves. We starting walking towards her but we were too late. She had tried to look at one that was tied to a mannequin and the mannequin fell over on her.

Her legs were flailing and she was screaming bloody murder. Tank hauled the mannequin off of her and Binkie set her on her feet. She smoothed her hair, thanked Ranger's Merry Men and walked calmly out of the store.

I smelled cookies and Christmas and heard a laugh but I couldn't see Diesel anywhere so I followed Grandma towards Victoria's Secret. I wondered if the Merrry Men were going to follow me into the store.


	4. These are a Few of my Favorite Things

**Whoohoo! Panties, Bras and another explosion! Enjoy! Please Review!!!**

**I don't own em, I only dream about them (well mostly Ranger and Diesel). **

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The Merry Men did indeed follow me into the Victoria's Secret. This time Tank and Binkie posted themselves at the doors and Hal and Cal followed me in. Seeing Hal inside Victoria's Secret was one thing. Seeing Cal was a whole 'nother thing. Cal was a steroidasaurus. Cal looked at the panties and bra's like he'd rather face grenades and rocket launchers.

I took complete advantage of the situation and bought several hundred dollars worth of very sexy underwear, bras, and lingerie. Both men were blushing by the time I was done. Of course that might have been because Grandma Mazur had insisted on buying a hot pink thong and bra set. Lula said Victoria's Secret didn't make bras in her size and everyone's eyes bugged out of their heads. We had barely walked out of the mall when I got a text message.

**Babe. I'm looking forward to you showing me what you bought. **

I looked down to make sure there was no smoke coming from my doohdah and then texted Ranger back.

_**You can text message?!**_

A few seconds later my phone rang. "Hello." I answered.

"Babe I can do _everything." _Hooboy. I looked down, nope still not on fire.

I decided to flirt. "I'll see you at home for the show." I hung up. My phone rang again. "Hello?"

"You hung up on me!" Oops.

"Oh I didn't mean to do that. I swear." Ranger laughed.

"I want you to come apartment hunting with me. I need to be somewhere closer to Trenton. Can I pick you up at your parent's house in 30 minutes?"

"Sure. See you there." My phone chirped when I hung up.

**Lose Grandma and Lula please. **

_**You got it babe. **_

**Did you just babe me?**

_**It's from Full House.**_

**Babe.**

I laughed and tucked my phone into my pocket. Ranger seemed strangely happy considering his apartment building got blown up. In fact Ranger seemed strangely happy in general. Ranger was never happy when someone was trying to kill me. Ranger bled money every time this happened. He'd told me so. I was in his accounting book under the heading of entertainment.

I looked at Tank. "What's going on, why is Ranger so happy? Why are there four of you. That's excessive even for Ranger."

"Ranger is not happy. Ranger is a madman, he wants to know who almost blew you up, he doesn't even care about RangeMan. He told us that if you so much got a papercut he was gonna have us all thrown off a bridge." It was Cal who replied.

Tank looked guilty. I stared him down. He didn't budge. I pulled out my gun. "I'm going to shoot myself in the foot if you don't tell me what you know."

Tanks eyes bugged out of his head. It was an empty threat but he didn't know that. Even Grandma looked impressed.

"Uh…I think he's glad that you and Joe broke up." Lula and I sucked in our breaths and looked at each other. What did that mean? Ranger told me he loved me in his own way, but that his love didn't come with a ring. Why would he care if I was with Morelli?

I was still contemplating that as I pulled into my parent's driveway. I brought in a bag with all the stuff I needed. My mom was ironing. She looked at me. "Two buildings in one night Stephanie? Really? No one else's daughters blow up buildings."

"I don't mean to blow up buildings. I hate blowing up buildings." I sighed and my mom poured me two fingers of whiskey. I chugged it. "I need to get changed. Ranger and I are looking for an apartment."

My mothers head snapped up. "What happened with Joe?"

"Oh well we broke up. But just so you know I'm not looking for an apartment to live with Ranger. I'm just helping him look. Although I do need to find a new apartment too. I don't think I can afford the places Ranger will be looking at though."

"Why did you and Joe break up Stephanie?"

"He gave me an ultimatum, him or Ranger."

"And you chose Ranger?" she asked.

That brought me up short. "Well yeah, I guess I did."

She nodded and I went upstairs. I put on a matching lace panty and bra set, tight dark pencil jeans and a low cut black tank top. I pulled on Black leather knee high boots with 3 inch stiletto heels. I told myself I just liked the outfit, but in reality I knew I was trying to impress Ranger. I checked my hair in the mirror, put on mascara and added the holster and gun to my new jeans. I also dumped the stuff from the tote bag into my new Marc Jacobs bag. I was ready. The doorbell rang and I went down the stairs. My mom, Ranger and grandma were all standing at the bottom of the stairs. Mom's mouth was hanging open and Ranger looked like he had just swallowed a grape whole. I guess I looked good.

"Babe." I smiled at him and he grinned back. Happy Ranger almost scared me more than normal Ranger.

We told my mom goodbye and I slide in Rangers Porsche Turbo. Someone had already taken the Hummer back to its home.

I thought Ranger was in his driving zen zone but I noticed he kept stealing glances at me. "What?!"

"You look pretty." He smiled at me.

"Oh. Thank you. So where are we going? What are you looking for?"

"I have a few appointments set up with my realtor. Were looking for a building with at least 10 stories. Underground controlled access garage. Those are really my only requirements because we are going to gut the building and make it fit our needs. We're staying in a hotel tonight." He looked at me, "Unless you made other plans."

"Nope no other plans. I need to know something though."

"Shoot."

"Are you happy that I broke up with Joe?" Ranger shot me a look.

"Babe." He was silent for a minute. "I don't want to seem like the bad guy here babe. You might not want to know the answer."

I raised my eyebrow and he sighed. "I like you and Joe was in the way. Plus Joe can be kind of an ass. It's a lot easier for me to keep you safe if you're with me. So yes, I'm happy. I'm sorry if you're sad though. I don't want you to be sad." Ranger babbling was something I'd never heard before.

"Okay." I smiled at Ranger. "I like you too."

We rode in silence to first building. It was in a good neighborhood.

The realtor called me Mrs. Manoso and Ranger didn't bother to correct her. We saw three buildings, all very similar, all new and nice.

"So which one do you like?" Ranger asked.

"I like the one with the view of the park. But probably that doesn't really concern you…" I trailed off trying to think which one would be best.

"We'll take the one with the view." I snapped my head to look at Ranger. I didn't want to second guess him in front of the realtor so I waited until she left to get the papers, which were conveniently in her car.

"Before you say anything I want to ask you something."

I was suspicious, "Sure."

"Would you live in one of the apartments in my building?"

"Oh…I couldn't afford that."

"You could if you worked for me part time. Just when you don't have any skips."

I wanted to say yes very badly, but at the same time I didn't want to be more indebted to ranger than I already was.

"Steph this is a legit offer. I'd like having you somewhere I know you're safe. This won't go on your tab. I'm done with that. If you want me you want me. There is no price for anything I do for you anymore. Okay?"

I nodded. "Alright. Thank you.." I had been caught off guard by his speech. It was sweet.

"One more thing. You're going to need to start acting like a real RangeMan employee. You're going to train with me and the boys."

"Sure thing boss!" I saluted him. In my head I was cringing. Training with Ranger was usually painful. We walked back towards Ranger's Porsche. When we were about 20 feet away it blew up. Ranger tackled me to the ground and rolled off me a few seconds later. My stomach hurt when he rolled off. "Steph you okay?"

"Yeah." I wasn't sure but I didn't think I could move to look.

"Good, because I'm not." I sat up, ignoring the pain in my stomach and looked at Ranger. He had a huge piece of metal sticking out a good 4 inches from the side of his stomach. Tank and the other men was running towards us. He'd already called an ambulance. I stripped off my tank top and pressed it around the metal, trying to keep the bleeding under control.

"Ranger, keep talking to me. Tell me your favorite thing in the world."

"Right now I'm pretty fond of that bra." I was wearing something from the glamour collection. It was lacy but not see-through. Thank god.

"I'm wearing the match g-string too." I was trying to distract him and it worked. I was starting to feel light headed.

"If I live will you show me?" He tried to grin but it came out in a grimace. He looked at me and tried to sit suddenly. "Steph you're bleeding!" I looked down, he was right. I was. I looked at the metal sticking out of him. I realized it had gone through me too and had been pulled out when he rolled off of me. Now that I saw it, it really hurt. I pushed Ranger back down.

"It's okay, I'm…" I trailed off. I was woozy. I smiled at Ranger. I heard the siren. I looked down; the ground was soaked with blood. I sort of melted down next to Ranger, still pressing on his wound. Tank was on his knees next to me and was pressing his shirt again my stomach.

I looked over at Ranger, "Hey I love you." I told him. I thought he should know that. Especially if I was going to die. I saw Ranger trying to sit up but Cal was holding him down.

"Steph you're gonna be fine. You're okay Stephanie just keep your eyes open." I was looking the flashing lights. My eyes felt heavy. "STEPH!" I looked back at Ranger and smiled.

"Hey Steph what's your favorite thing in the whole world?"

"Your shower gel." I looked up paramedics were all around us now. They were putting us on stretchers, hooking us up to oxygen masks and other stuff. I was being wheeled away from Ranger.

"I love you too Stephanie. I'll see you in a few minutes." I nodded, not sure about that. My vision was going spotty. Someone was holding my hand. I looked up and saw Diesel.

"Hey Steph." I smiled at Diesel.

"I'm sorry I complain about you. You're not a pain in the ass. You're awesome and you smell good. If I live you should come visit more."

He smiled, "Hey Steph look on your other side." I was being loaded into the ambulance now. I turned my head.

"Joe, you came."

"Of course I came Stephanie. I had thirty fucking messages in five minutes telling me you and Ranger almost got blown up and you were both lying in a pool of blood. Christ Stephanie. He's almost gotten you killed three times in tw-"

"Hey you're not helping her by being an asshole Morelli." It was Diesel's voice. He stepped into the ambulance and sat by me.

The paramedic was putting an IV in my arm.

"What took you so long this time?"

"No reception. I didnt realize anything was wrong until my internal alert went off telling me you were in public without a shirt." He smiled at me and squeezed my hand.

Right before the ambulance doors closed I saw Morelli. He was looking at me with a sad expression. I think he was mad that Diesel was the one in the ambulance with me.


	5. Unmentionable?

**Update: Hey I forgot to add my authors note! Oops! I dont own the characters! Sad Face! I hope everyone likes this chapter. Review Review! :)**

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I was amazed that I was still awake when we got to the hospital. I felt like I was in the middle of an episode of ER and I couldn't help but wonder if I was going to be one of the cases that ended in sad music. They'd hung blood and called for a million tests. Diesel was in the room with me. I looked to my right and smiled when I saw Ranger in the room next to me. I saw blood hanging above him too.

Everything was a rush of sounds and images, moving too fast for me to get a handle on. One minute I was staring at Ranger and the next I was being asked to countdown from 100. I got to 98. I'm a cheap drunk.

I was dreaming the strangest things. Ranger was an unmentionable. Which really, when you think about it, makes perfect sense. He could unlock and relock locks; I swear he read my mind sometimes. Not to mention…well…other things. In my dream Ranger was showing me his various tricks and I was clapping.

My dream faded out slowly and I blinked my eyes open. Ranger was in a bed next to me and he and Diesel were talking quietly. They both looked over at me when I opened my eyes.

"Babe?" In this instance his babe had stood for, "Hi, how are you feeling?"

"I'm alright. I had the strangest dream. You were unmentionable." It popped out before I could stop it and Diesel and Ranger gave each other a nervous but meaningful glance.

"I often am babe. Looks like we get to stay the night here." I grinned. Ranger in a hospital gown was something I sure didn't want to miss. "I didn't need surgery so I get to go home tomorrow. I think you're stuck here for a few days." I frowned and then looked at Diesel.

"Why aren't you talking? Why is Ranger talking?" Usually it was the other way around.

"I was trying to be unobtrusive." He sauntered over to me and kissed my forehead. "I'm glad you're okay. I'm gonna give you two some time to talk. You're Mom and Dad will be here soon. See you in a few hours." He walked to the other side of the curtain that was blocking my view of the door but I didn't hear it open. I reached over, ignoring the pain, and pulled the curtain back. No Diesel.

"I hate when he does that." I heard Ranger laugh and I looked at him. He was acting so strange. I had a hard time believing that it was due to me breaking up with Joe. I kind of hoped it was. Ranger had told me before that he wasn't a marriage type of guy, but did that mean we couldn't be more than friends?

Now that Joe was out of my life Ranger seemed like a definite possibility.

"I don't wanna stay here Ranger." I tried to put on my best pouty face. If anyone could get them to release me it was Ranger. And if that didn't work I would plead with Diesel to pop me out. I hate hospitals.

"Babe, it's not really my decision. Plus I am hoping that no one will try to blow you up here. I can't tell you how scared I was yesterday when I saw all that blood. Why the hell didn't you say something earlier?" He sounded hard and angry now.

"I didn't realize. I was just so worried about you. I didn't know something was wrong."

Ranger was staring at me, his eyes intense. "Steph being around me is dangerous. You need to focus on your own safety not mine."

"Oh just like you focus on your safety and not mine? 'Mr. throw myself in front of flying shrapnel to protect Stephanie the incompetent bounty hunter.'"

"You are not incompetent. I protect the people I love, that's how it works. Why was this any different than the times I've taken bullets for you?"

I stared at him numbly for a minute. "I thought you were gonna die. I was so scared. There was so much blood…"

"Stephanie, let me make something very clear. I am not trying to make you quit your job or stop being around me. I'm not even asking you to stop blowing shit up. I just want you to do as much as you can to minimize the damage. Babe let's face it, you could work at the button factory and you would still go through 12 cars a year and blow up a building or two. You'd still get attacked by geese and be dyed blue. You're a trouble magnet. But I won't give you an ultimatum. I won't try to make you fit yourself into my life. We need to try to fit into each other's lives to make this work."

"Ranger, what are you saying? Make what work? Are you saying you want to date?"

"I don't date. I…Oh fuck...yeah I want to date. Steph this is going to sound completely dopey and if you ever tell anyone I said this I'll handcuff you naked to a tree, but I thought you were dying and I was…well it didn't matter to me in that moment that I was bleeding too, all I was worried about was you. I would have gladly taken your place, in a heartbeat. I've never had that feeling before. Maybe I'm not relationship material. But I want to try, if you do."

"Are you on any medication right now?"

"No."

"Okay then. I'd like to try." Ranger laughed again I smiled at him. There was a knock at the door and then Grandma Mazur burst in. She was wearing skinny jeans and a halter top. Ranger looked like he might be having a heart attack.

"Nice job Stephanie. I think you broke your record. Two car and two buildings in less than 48 hours!" Grandma said and sat down on Ranger's side of the room. My Mom walked in and saw me all hooked up and made the sign of the cross.

"What was that for?"

"You're soul." She looked at Ranger and made the cross again.

"And that?"

"My soul." I looked at Ranger. His hair was standing up in spikes and he had a smirk on his face. I looked down at toes and thought that I'd had so many dirty thoughts about Ranger that I was sure I was going to hell.

I looked over at Mom and then to Grandma, their mouths were both hanging open, I looked at Ranger and he had a huge grin on his face.

"Shit did I say that aloud?" Oops.

"Babe."


	6. Heart Troubles

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* * *

My dad came in from parking the car right about the same time that mom and grandma were ready to leave. They all kissed me and then filed out. And then I was alone with Ranger, who had told me he wanted to date me. Awkward.

"Ranger who the hell keeps trying to kill us?"

"They aren't trying to kill you babe, I don't think they're even trying to kill me yet. They're trying to scare me."

"Is it working?"

"Yeah babe, it working. If they were just coming after me it would be one thing, but coming after you is crossing a line. I've got all my men working on it but to be honest I'm worried."

"Wow…that was honest."

"I'm not going to keep you out of the loop on this Steph. You need to know how dangerous this is. We have no idea what we are dealing with yet. If I ask you to do something with me will you do it?"

"Depends what it is." I wasn't saying yes until I heard what he wanted me to do. No grass growing in this brain.

"I want you to take a vacation. For a week or two after you're out of here, just until we at least know what the threat is. Who's doing this. I already talked to Diesel he'll go with you. You can bring Lula. No one will know where you are except Tank and Cal and I. I want you hidden. Before you argue, this is for me, not for you. If I don't have to worry about a maniac offing you with a rocket launcher then I'm going to be safer."

Damn I couldn't argue with _him_ being safer. And I had to admit, this wasn't about my skill level. I wasn't in danger because I was a wimpy woman or something. Not even Ranger was safe from rockets. "Why don't you come with me?" I knew he wouldn't go for it but I had to try.

"Steph I can't just leave my men here to deal with this."

I sighed. "I know. Just for a week or two?" I was scared. I'd never seen Ranger like this before. He'd always been protective but usually we knew what the threat was. And usually the threat didn't have military equipment to use on us. Usually they had to get close. Or they wanted to get close. I didn't want to come home to find Ranger back in the hospital. Or worse.

Ranger sat up and swung his legs over the edge of his bed. "What are you doing? Lay down! Ranger!" He didn't lay back down. He was unhooking stuff, luckily his IV came with him the three steps to my bed. He crawled in next to me and I shifted onto my side that wasn't hurt. He wrapped his arms around me and I felt better.

"We'll get him Steph. Meanwhile I think you should go somewhere hot, with a beach. I think picture postcards of you in a bikini would lift my spirits considerably." He grinned at me and I giggled into his side.

I'd never seen Ranger grin or laugh as much as I had in the last few days. It felt good to know I was the reason for that.

I laid my head on Rangers chest and fell asleep. When I woke up a few hours later he was asleep too. We slept through the night and when I woke up in the morning I almost screamed. Lula and was at the foot of the bed staring at us like were zoo animals. I raised my eyebrow and felt Ranger chuckle under me.

"Whooboy. And here I thought I was gonna find you on your death bed. You go girl!" I grinned like a loon at Lula.

"Hey Lula, you want to go on vacation with me and Diesel?"

"Cripes Stephanie. You blow up shit, roll in garbage, get shot at, kidnapped, attacked by geese, and I would still love to be you." This time Ranger laughed out loud. The door opened and Joe stepped in. His eyes centered on me and Ranger.

"Then again, maybe not. I'll be in the hallway." Lula ran out of the room like it was on fire. I tried to sit up but Ranger kept his hand on my back. Apparently he was trying to make a point to Joe.

"How are you cupcake?" He gave me a half hearted smile and I smiled back. Maybe if Joe couldn't handle dating me he couldn't still be my friend.

Morelli stayed a few minutes and left with a gruff "Take care of her Ranger." Lula sauntered back in, with a donut. Man I would love a donut. And a shower, I would kill for a shower. A nurse came to tell Ranger they were discharging him and Lula left so he could change.

I watched him let the hospital gown fall and the slip into some black cargo pants. No underwear. My heart monitor flat lined for a moment and Ranger's head whipped up. "Babe."

I laughed and he walked over to kiss me. His lips pressed to mine and the monitor went crazy. He started to pull back and I grabbed his hair to pull him to me. The door burst open and a few doctors and nurses stopped in their tracks.

One of the nurses giggled. "God if I had him kissing me my heart would stop too."


	7. Dirty Teenage TV Shows

**Good morning everyone (at least for those in the same time zone as me and who are reading this soon after I post it. For the rest of you: Good afternoon and good night! Hope you enjoy this chapter. I can't thank you enough for the reviews! Please keep them coming. Enjoy!**

**These people don't belong to me. I would whisk Diesel and Ranger to a tropical island if I could. JerseySue, you can come too, but I don't know how good I would be at sharing! Hehe.**

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The medical people left and Ranger pulled on a shirt. I felt the shirt was unnecessary but I don't think he would have agreed.

"Sorry to leave ya babe. I'll have my cell on me all day. I'm leaving you with Tank and Hal today. One will be posted outside your room, one in here with 're drawing straws now. I've got a few other men stationed around the building. Security here is on high alert. There is a list of people who can get in to see you. I've got Diesel, Lula, your mom, dad, grandma, Connie, and Joe on the list. If you want to add someone you tell Tank who tells me, and I tell security. Got it?"

"You put Joe on the list?" I asked.

"Joe doesn't scare me babe." He leaned over made my heart monitor go a little crazy one last time and then left the room. Tank walked in as Ranger walked out. Tank had on a nifty ear piece that I could barely see. Tank looked like secret service.

"Batman has left the building. Tastykake is secure." Tank said. I noticed he didn't have to push any buttons which would mean any conversations we had would be relayed. Fun.

"Hey can I be Wonder Woman instead of Tastykake?"

"Tastykake is requesting a name change." He listened for a second. "Er. Ranger said he would change your name to "Bombshell Bounty Hunter" if you wanted." He looked hopeful.

"No thanks." I frowned. I was bored. I turned on the TV and found an episode of One Tree Hill. Tank watched with me and I explained the various relationships.

"Those Tree Hill kids need to learn to keep it in their pants. Cripes. Look at that! The dark haired one is making out with the blonde ones boyfriend! Wait he and the other guy are brothers right? And isn't the blonde one the brother's ex girlfriend?"

I nodded and Tank's eyes went a little wild. He was glued to the screen. I pushed the call button and a nurse came in.

"I have to use the ladies room." She helped me get up, watching Tank with wide eyes. I was still hooked up to my IV. Tank stood up as I made my way to the little bathroom.

"Where do you think you're going? This is a one woman job."

"I'm just checking out the bathroom before you go in."

"You think someone snuck in their while you were watching One Tree Hill? RANGER! TANK IS WATCHING DIRTY TEENAGE TV SHOWS INSTEAD OF MONITORING MY BATHROOM!!!!"

"Cripes! He can hear that! You're gonna get me in trouble." Tank opened that bathroom door, glanced in and then let me go inside.

I did my thing and then saw the shower. I couldn't hear anything outside of the bathroom. Not even the TV. Good sound proofing. I turned on the shower and climbed in. I figured the water wouldn't hurt the IV tubing. I was lathering my hair when I heard the door open.

I poked my head out angrily, jeez I couldn't even take a shower.

"Tastykake is fine. She's in the shower." He listened. "Ranger wants to know if you'll still be in the shower in twenty minutes?"

"No! And why are you in here?"

"Sorry, we knocked but you didn't answer."

I 'hmmphhed' and pulled the curtain closed. I stepped to my right and slipped. I feel on my ass taking the shower curtain with me.

"Oh crap Tastykake just fell on her ass and broke the shower." Tank came over to help me and I swear I could hear Ranger laughing on the other end of that damn ear thing.

"Stop calling me Tastykake. AGH! DON'T TOUCH MY BUTT!"

"Jesus I didn't mean too. You're all slippery. Hold still so I can stand you up."

"Just get out!!!" Tank turned to go and slipped. He fell and hit his head on the side of the shower. Uh oh.

"HAL!!!!" HELP!!!"

Hal came bursting in, first looking at me, still sprawled in the shower and then at Tank who was breathing but not moving.

"Tastykake is secure. I think she killed Tank for touching her butt though."

"I didn't do that!" Not that it hadn't been kind of funny, but I hadn't done it. Hal sprinkled some water on Tanks face and he woke up. Hal helped him up and then called for a nurse to help me. We got my hair rinsed and I was allowed to put on one of the sweat suits I had bought the other day. Ranger must have had the guys bring it. The pants say Juicy on the butt. Yup that's me.

I was settled back into my bed and I grabbed my phone and text messaged Ranger.

_**I'm bored. **_

**Babe. How can you be bored? You've already injured one of my men. You're right on schedule. I'll have some entertainment brought up. **

_**Like a stripper? **_

**Babe.**

I sighed and waited for my entertainment. Twenty minutes later a RangeMan employee knocked and was let in by Tank. It was someone I'd never met before. He had a laptop. There was a note inside an envelope.

**Babe, go ahead and figure out where you want to go. Look at a bunch of different places and hotels. This should be secure, but just in case, we don't want to lead our man to you. Pick wherever you want. Don't worry about money. Try not to let Tank watch too much TV, he gets riled up. **

I turned on the laptop and started searching travel sites. I had a passport and but I didn't know about Lula or Diesel. I text messaged them to ask.

**Hell yeah I have a passport. Where we goin? Mexico? Are we goin to Mexico? **

_**No.**_

Diesel walked out of my bathroom. Tank didn't notice. He was too wrapped up in One Tree Hill. "Christ, they said I wasn't on the list. I had to pop in."

Tank looked over at Diesel very suspiciously but someone called someone else a dirty whore on the TV and he was engrossed again.

"Yeah I have a passport." He walked over to my bed and made me scoot over so he could sit next to me. We surfed around for a while. We both wanted to go somewhere hot with a beach. He said Australia, I said the Bahamas. Then we both agreed on Hawaii. Frankly I was scared to go to Australia. Kangaroos freak me out.

I looked over at Tank and when I looked back at Diesel he was gone. About ten minutes later he walked out of my bathroom again. He tossed me a little pink bikini and grinned.

I suddenly though of Lula in a bikini and Diesel's grin faded. "Maybe we should go somewhere cold instead." I nodded in agreement.


	8. 15 Grand

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* * *

In the end we still decided to go to Hawaii, our need for warm water and hot beaches waylaid our fears of Lula in a bikini.

I was released from the hospital after another two days and we'd had a minimum of accidents during my stay. Tank had to go on hall duty because he got so addicted to One Tree Hill that he didn't notice when I slipped out of the room to find a candy bar. Hal caught me but had someone bring me up a Snickers bar.

Grandma had come in and pushed my happy juice button (which I had been unaware of) a few times until I was convinced I could fly.

I had a small melt down when I realized I hadn't thought of Rex for two days and I made Ranger go back to his hotel and take a picture to send to me. Rex was fine. Rex let Ranger take him out of his cage. Apparenlty even Rex knew not to mess with Ranger.

Diesel hung out with me during the day, but wouldn't tell me why he was in Trenton. I didn't push, I liked having him around.

Ranger came to visit me a few times each day and he slept with me at night. I found I wasn't all that excited about getting out of the hospital. It meant leaving Ranger. We had fallen into an easy friendship bordering on relationship. He joked with me and made me laugh. Ranger was easier going than I'd ever seen him.

Ranger wheeled me out of the hospital when it was time to go. The hospital said the wheel chair was policy. Ugh. I was very surprised as we went outside. There were at least six RangeMan employees that I could see. Ranger loaded me in to his Cayenne and drove me to the hotel. He'd already made arrangements for the trip. We were meeting Lula and Diesel at the airport in an hour.

I packed a big purse full of some essentials. I was buying most of my stuff there; I hadn't gotten any warm weather clothing on my shopping trip. Ranger gave me a velvet box when we got to the hotel. I raised an eye brow and opened it. It was a very pretty silver and diamond necklace.

"Wow…Ranger…this is a diamond." I was sort of speechless.

"Yes it is. Press it." I pressed the diamond and felt it give just slightly.

"Is this a panic button necklace? You could have done this without the diamond."

"I could have." He reached to fasten it around my neck. He pulled me close and kissed me. When his tongue slide against my bottom lip my legs became jelly and he had to keep me from falling.

"I'm only a phone call away babe. Anything at all happens, you call me. Got it?" I nodded.

"Alright, let's get you in the air." Amazingly there was no traffic and we made it to the airport a little early. Tank and Hal each had a suitcase and a small carry on. Diesel was waiting for us at the ticket counter and Lula came busting in a few minutes after Ranger and I arrived.

Ranger was amazing; he had arranged it so we picked up our tickets at a general customer service counter so that nobody would be tipped off as to where we were going. We had fake ID's with generic names. Ranger had also managed to get permission to go to our gate with us. He'd left his guns and knives in the car. Tank and Cal's were locked in a suitcase. Ranger sat with me until the plane started boarding. We were first class. Fancy. He kissed me in front of the boarding gate and watched as I got on.

"Whoo. That man is so hot. I swear I get heart palpitations every time he comes around." Lula said as we took our seats.

I muttered "Join the club" as I sat down. I had Tank in front of me, Hal behind me and Diesel right next to me. I had the window seat. Lula was next to Diesel. There was a kind of shifty looking guy sitting next to Lula and I was about to mention something to Diesel when he leaned over and whispered "air marshal" in my ear. Wow I had my own air marshal.

Diesels mind reading abilities seemed to be improving. I thought "21" and Diesel said "blackjack". I thought of Diesel holding a baby and Diesel said "eak" and gave my uterus a semi-worried look. After staring a few seconds he seemed to come to the conclusion that it was nicely empty. I thought of me in the little pink bikini and diesel said "mmm." It was a fun game.

We kept playing for about 30 minutes and then I noticed I had missed take off. I hated take off. Missing it was great. I smiled at Diesel and he winked at me. Whooboy.

Don't get me wrong Ranger is hot. Ranger is mysterious and sexy and dangerous. But Diesel takes mysterious, sexy and dangerous to a new level. I used to be pretty sure that Ranger was human and that Diesel was not, now I'm pretty sure neither of them are human. At least not normal humans.

I looked over at Diesel and he was grinning. "You think I'm sexy?"

I gritted my teeth. Yeah a sexy pain in the ass.

"I'll take it." He was silent for a moment. I was still wondering about Ranger.

"I cant tell you about Ranger. Ranger has to tell you about Ranger."

"You just admitted there is something to tell."

"No, but if there was something to tell I couldn't tell you." He gave me a dimpled smile. A damn sexy pain in the ass.

I sighed. I was getting excited as we got closer to Maui. Lula, Diesel and I discussed activities. I wanted to snorkel, Diesel wanted to surf, Lula wanted to shop and lounge. I asked Diesel if he would teach me to surf and he said he would. Lula wanted no part of surfing. She said she would consider snorkeling. Tank and Hal didn't mind snorkeling.

The pilot finally announced our imminent landing and I got nervous again. I hated landing more than taking off. I thought of fiery wreckage.

"Steph!" All of the sudden I was picturing the white sandy beaches and palm trees. Then a I was picturing the opening scene from Lost with the white sandy beaches and palm trees, all strewn with fiery wreckage.

"Stephanie you're ruining the mental images that I'm giving you!"

"You're putting the beach and palm trees in my head?" I didn't believe it. My mental picture changed to a very naked Diesel. I sure as hell didn't put that there. But I figured while it was there I might as well ponder it.

"Steph? Steph? Hey were here! Steph? Snap out of it!" My mental picture was replaced with the fiery wreckage and I yelped and grabbed Diesel's hand. Then I realized we weren't moving.

"Did we land?"

"Yeah like 10 minutes ago. Man you were enjoying that picture."

"Was not."

"Steph I can read your mind." Right, damn. Okay maybe I had been enjoying it a little.

We disembarked and got the luggage. Our rental car was a Black Escalade. We were staying in a rental villa at the Grand Wailea Resort. The whole place was gorgeous. I wanted to go to the hotel shops first thing but the guys wanted to get changed and armed so I relented.

When we got to our room I almost died. It was a house. A three bedroom house with a kitchen and three bathrooms and everything. Cripes. "This must be costing Ranger a fortune."

Hal spoke up. "Yeah like fifteen if we stay the whole time." I swallowed hard.

"Like 1,500 dollars?" I was hoping.

"No like fifteen grand." Holy shit. I grabbed my cell phone and dialed Ranger.

"Hey, how was the flight?"

"We need a new hotel."

"What's wrong with that one?"

"It's too expensive."

Ranger let out something akin to a groan. "Steph its fine. I want you to have fun. Just charge whatever you need to the room. It's all good. And don't argue, I've got security set up there. Just have some fun alright?"

"Okay…But I feel bad. I'll make this up to you."

"Babe, remember, there is no price for what we give each other."

"_Fifteen Grand?" _But Ranger just chuckled and hung up.

Diesel followed me into the master suite. I didn't even bother to argue with him. Diesel slept wherever he wanted. He went into the bathroom and changed into some swim trunks and a tank top. Yowsers. Surfer Diesel was hotter than regular Diesel.

We met Tank and Hal in the living room. I cracked up. They were in board shorts and Hawaiian shirts.

Lula came out next and surprisingly looked good. She had on jean shorts and a tank top over her bathing suit. She looked like a normal person.

We trouped to the hotel shops and I picked out some stuff. I mainly got bikinis, board shorts and tank tops. I got a cute sundress and rash guard shirt. Pretty standard stuff. I was glad they had a surf shop that carried Roxy and Billabong. The other store had shirts for $150. No thanks. I changed into some board shorts and a tank, I already had the bikini on. The hotel offered to take the other stuff to our room. I signed for it all and off we went to explore.

Every once in a while I would look at Tank or Hal and crack up. Then I'd look at Diesel and have to remind myself not to drool.

We went to the beach and I wanted to go swimming. I tugged of my tank and shorts but Diesel caught me around the wrist before I could get into the water. "You're cut will get infected." Damn, I had a 4 inch gash on the side or my stomach. It was still angry and red and stitched together. I was pissed. I wasn't going to get to swim.

"Don't worry." Diesel ran a finger over the cut and it tingled. When I looked down it was scar. No gash, no stitches. Holy shit. It was still an angry looking scar and I looked like shit in my bikini but I could swim.

"Steph, trust me, you look amazing." And then he picked me up and threw me in the ocean.


	9. Bootylicious

**Hey all! More Hawiian fun! Thank you thank you for all the awesome reviews! You guys make my day!!! I'm gonna stick with the 'more reviews equals a faster new chapter' rule today. :) Give me some love and I'll make sure to get another chapter done tonight. **

**I don't own the Plums. Or anyone else. **

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I laughed and splashed Diesel with water. I looked to the beach and stopped dead in my tracks. Holy cow. Lula was wearing a tiny neon green bikini top and florescent yellow bikini bottoms. She turned and the bottoms said the word "Bootylicious", which only fit because she was so bootylicious.

Tank was eyeing her appreciatively but Hal looked like he had just witnessed a train wreck. I looked over at Diesel. Diesel wasn't looking at Lula though. Diesel was staring at my boobs.

"Diesel!"

"Should you be wearing that in the water?" Huh? Oh. He was staring at the necklace.

"Yeah I'm not supposed to take it off."

He nodded apparently pulling the explanation out of my mind.

"Lula scares me." He was grinning.

"I think Lula scares most men. I'm not quite sure how Lula made any money when she was a 'ho." Diesel and I vacated the water and, along with my so inconspicuous body guards, went to a surf shop to rent boards. Diesel spent about 30 minutes on the beach teaching me the basics and having me hop up on the board. I only fell off twice. Diesel said that was great…if I'd been in the water.

He stayed with me as we paddled out, even though I'm sure he could have gone much faster. Tank and Hal were standing and scanning the beach. They apparently felt I was safe enough out on the water with Diesel.

After about an hour of wiping out I finally got up and actually rode a wave for a few seconds. Diesel grabbed me around the waist and kissed me smack on the lips. Snaking his tongue into my mouth before I came to my senses. I pulled back and he gave me a dimple-grin. Crap. I noticed that Diesel was, uh, very excited and I gave him a questioning half smile.

"What? You're all wet!" He grinned again.

"I'm in the water!" I protested. Diesel chuckled and led me back to shore, carrying both our boards.

"Go Stephanie!" Lula said.

"I know right? I stood up!" I was excited.

"No I meant that kiss. Whoa baby," she said as she took off her sunglasses. "Uh oh, Steph did you put sunblock on?"

Oh. Fuck. Me. I looked at my arm. It was pink. Okay maybe slightly red, but not too bad. It didn't hurt. Well it hurt a little. Crap it was hurting more now. It was getting worse every second. Sunburns weren't supposed to do that were they? I looked at Diesel. He looked pained. Diesel wasn't burnt. Diesel was tan. Diesel made me want to run my tongue down his chest. I gave Diesel an angry glance. That hadn't been my thought. Had it? Yeah okay, it was my thought.

We all trouped back to the hotel. The burn looked worse out of the sun. My apartment bomb burns hadn't seemed this bad. And they hadn't hurt this bad. My whole body felt like it was on fire.

I couldn't reach around to undo my top. I needed sunburn advice.

I knew Lula would be no help. She was nice and cocoa colored. No sunburns there. "Diesel!"

He walked in and grimaced. "Cripes I can feel the heat coming off of you from over here." He walked into the bathroom and came out with a fancy bottle of aloe vera. He went to my back and started rubbing it in.

"Ohhh. Oh god Diesel that feels so good." He stopped. "Don't stop!" I groaned.

"Steph you might want to keep it down. Tank is debating on calling Ranger.

"Oh. Oops. Ok. I'll be good."

Diesel laughed and continued to rub in the aloe. It was cold and felt nice but my I was still in some serious pain. He did my whole back and got on his knees to do the back of my legs. He didn't even cop a feel when he did the bottom of my butt cheeks where the suit had ridden up a little. He came to stand in front of me. He soothed the gel onto my neck and my chest. He seemed to spend a little longer then necessary on my cleavage. He smoothed it down my stomach and then dropped to his knees again. Hooboy. He started at the tops of my feet and slowly worked his way up. His hand brushed across my doodah a couple of times as he was rubbing the aloe into my thighs. I hadn't thought I could feel any hotter but I was wrong.

I thanked him and went to grab some clothes and he laughed. "What?"

"There is no way you're going to be able to wear that Steph. You'll be screaming in pain."

"Can't you maybe do some mojo? Fix me up a little?"

"I already did while I was rubbing on the aloe. I'm running on empty here though. It didn't do a lot of good."

"So you're saying you need to eat?"

"And sleep." He yawned to prove his point.

"Food first?" Diesel nodded. "Er…I guess room service? I can't really go anywhere in a bikini…"

We told Hal and Tank our plans. They both looked vaguely scared. "Guys I don't think Ranger can blame you for me not putting on sunscreen. You're not my mommies or daddies." Thank god.

We ordered our food and I dialed Ranger. It was about 8 o'clock here. I wasn't quite sure on the whole time zone thing but I figured it wasn't too late to call Ranger.

He picked up on the first ring. "Babe. What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong. Why would you ask that?"

"Steph its 2 am."

"Oh. Oops. I got confused. I'll let you go back to sleep."

"No its okay I was just worried. Tell me about your day."

"I stood up on a surf board!" I heard Ranger chuckle.

"Mmm good, what else?"

"I got sunburned, pretty badly. I can't really move. Or sit. Or take off my bathing suit or put anything else on."

"Babe." He sounded tired and a little worried now.

"It's okay. Go back to sleep Ranger. I miss you."

"I miss you too Steph. Be careful. Wear sunblock tomorrow. I love you." And he hung up. After saying he loved me! Whoa. Calm down Stephanie. It was friend love. He's told you he loved you before, one part of me argued. But he never actually said "I love you" like that, said the other part.

Diesel was staring at me. "You know something don't you?" I asked him.

He looked surprised, "Who me? Nope. I rarely know anything. I'm dumb remember?"

"You went to MIT." He gave me another dimple-grin.

"Well yeah…But I swear I don't know anything. If I knew something I would have to sleep in another room, so I'm gonna stick with my 'I know nothing' story."

The doorbell rang. Saved by bell. I walked out of the room and Diesel started humming the Saved by the Bell theme song as he followed me.

I opened the door and the waiter's mouth fell open.

"Holy Shit you look like a lobster." And then he slapped his hand over his mouth as if he was stunned he had said it. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean that. You're beautif-", I slammed the door in his face.


	10. My Day at the Spa

**Thank you again for the reviews. Were at 44 so far. I'd like to add ten before I post another chapter tomorrow. Let's see if we can do it. This chapter is more dramatic than funny but I hope you still like it. **

DayDreaminDeb: I would say its a good thing. :)

lanicker: Diesel is trying not to poach on Ranger. He didnt really care so much when Steph and Joe were dating but he has reservation about encroaching on Rangers "territory".

BellaBear: Yup. I'm glad I'm finally getting to put my sarcasm to good use. Its lost on my family.

JerseySue: Yep I agree. Eh screw the good girl part.

Mary Lyon: You'll find out! :) I too kind of want **Stephanie to hook up with Diesel. What does everyone want more? Should I keep this story a babe fic and write another thats a bit more 'unmentionable?'**

addavisson: I picked Maui because its one of the only places I've ever been. We stayed at the Grand Waelia for 2 weeks. Amazing! Although I didnt get to stay in the super villas. Lol.

**You're reviews are raising my self esteem by leaps and bounds. Thank you!!!**

**BTW: I realized I made a mistake about the flight times to Maui. I was doing it from Seattle (Where I live) instead of Trenton. So please add a layover and a much longer flight. LOL.**

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Diesel opened the door and got our food. The waiter kept apologizing, he was probably hoping we wouldn't tell his boss. If he had said it to someone staying in a normal room and been tattled on he probably would have been reprimanded. If we told on him he probably would have been fired. We were in the 'high roller' suite after all.

Diesel insured the kid that they all thought I looked funny and it was fine. Apparently though the kid had a guilty conscience because 10 minutes later the manager knocked on our door. I opened it and got a similar reaction.

"Cripes." He recovered quickly. He wanted to offer everyone in our suite a day at the spa tomorrow. He said they were designing a special day of activities that wouldn't irritate my sunburn, and would even make me feel better. I'd never had a spa day and so I accepted graciously.

Lula was ecstatic, Diesel didn't seem to care one way or another and my body guards looked scared. Probably they weren't spa guys. My phone buzzed as I sat down to eat.

**You ran away. Like that could stop me. Don't worry, I'm already on my way. **

I shivered. The number was 'unknown'. Creepy message. I showed it to the guys and Tank said he was going to call Ranger. I said I would call him instead. He was less likely to shoot the messenger if the messenger was me.

"Babe you're killing me here."

"Ranger I got a text message." My voice was all shaky.

"I'm not going to like this am I? Can you forward it to me without hanging up?"

"Yeah." I forwarded it and when Ranger started talking again his voice was hard.

"Stephanie I'm going to call the airline but there won't be a flight out until the morning. I want you to get some sleep. Tomorrow act normal but be on alert until I get there okay?"

"You're coming to get me?" I was relieved, I was glad he was coming here.

"Of course. Be safe. Love you."

"Love you too." There, I'd said it. I clicked my phone shut. Everyone was staring at me. Tank and Hal both looked kind of surprised, Lula looked envious and Diesel…well Diesel looked slightly disappointed. I didn't know if I wanted to delve into Diesels feelings.

The truth is I like Diesel a lot more than I want to admit. But Diesel only comes around once in a blue moon and I know less about Diesel than I know about Ranger. Diesel just didn't have much relationship staying power. And I didn't want to sleep with him and then have him leave.

I said goodnight to Lula, Tank and Hal. I thought Diesel was going to follow me but he didn't. _Come on Diesel, you can't fit on that couch. Come keep me company._ He followed me.

"I can sleep on the couch Steph, it's not a big deal."

"It's not like I'm going to be getting much sleep. At least you can." Diesel came to stand in front of me. "

You're back is worse than your front, I'm going to try to fix it a little." He moved behind me and his hands moved over my neck. It felt like he was running cool electricity through my body, it made me shiver. He very slowly caressed his hands over my shoulders and back and legs. My back felt better than it had, but It still hurt and I was radiating heat. I heard Diesel groan. He barely made it to the bed before he collapsed.

"Diesel what's wrong?" I was really worried, what the hell was going on?

"I'm not a healer, it zapped my strength. I'll be fine tomorrow."

"Are you gonna change for bed?"

"Too much effort." His eyes were closed.

I walked over to him and pulled the flip flops off of his feet. He was wearing cargo shorts and I could see his boxers peeking out the waist band. I unbuttoned and unzipped his pants and tugged them off his hips. He opened one eye and sat for a second so I could tug his shirt off.

"Mmm I really wish you'd undress me sometime when I'm conscious."

"Sorry." He didn't respond. "Diesel?" Still no response. I leaned over and lightly kissed him. "Thanks Diesel."

I went into the amazing bathroom and turned on the shower. I changed the pressure to "light" and the temperature to "cool". It felt really good. I put on a new bikini and crawled very slowly into the bed. The cotton sheets were super soft and cool. My front was still less burned then my back so I laid on my stomach and tried to fall asleep.

I woke up in the morning to Diesel's hands on my shoulders. "Mmm no. It was too much for you."

"It's okay Steph, let me help." His hands felt so good and I was still half asleep. I knew I was making little moaning noises in my throat but I didn't care. He flipped me over and started going over my front.

"Steph if you don't start to stop making those noises I'm going to have to do something to deserve them."

I finally opened my eyes and smiled at him.

"Ranger called. The soonest he can be here is 5pm. He should be on the first leg of his flight right now. The front desk called. They want us for our spa visit whenever we are ready. They'll have breakfast too. By the way did you undress me last night?"

"Yep. You looked very uncomfortable."

"Wanna do it again?"

Yes. "I'll pass." I don't think Diesel believed me. He gave one of those damn dimple-grins.

I slipped a swim suit cover up on and yelped in pain. Owch. We walked out and I almost went blind when I saw Lula. She was wearing day glow orange short shorts and a white tank top. She looked like an extra large Hooters waitress.

Tank and Hal were in another of their matching vacation outfits. We all went down to the spa and were given our pick of treatments. I got to do a Terme Wailea Hydrotherapy bath, a Cooling Sensational Facial and a Thai Cooling White Clay Cocoon. Plus I was getting a pedicure and manicure. My package was special because I couldn't really do a scrub or massage.

Lula was doing the Grande Spa Package and Diesel was staying with me and getting everything I was getting. Hal and Tank weren't getting anything. They were body guarding but staying outside the actual treatment rooms.

Everything was awesome. For the cocoon we were taken to a secluded place outside and covered in clay and then wrapped up kind of like a mummy. There was a waterfall and it was very peaceful.

I was lying in my cocoon listening to peaceful music when I heard the gun shots. My eyes shot open and I tried to sit but I was having trouble. I heard Diesel shouting at me to run but I couldn't get unraveled. I stood up and toppled over. I saw Diesel he was covered in clay but his wrapping was gone. Even in my panicked state I had a "whoa" moment. I was grabbed from behind and dragged through the plants. It hurt and I was freaked out. I reached up to try for the panic button but I couldn't quite do it. Whoever had me was suddenly throwing me into a trunk. I was able to push the panic button but all I could think was that they had gotten past the three body guards that were here, and backup wouldn't be getting here for 6 or 7 hours. I would be dead long before they could find me.

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**Random fact: While editing this chapter I found that I had wrote: "pulled the flip flops off of his face." Hmm...**

**So what did you think? Did I get the drama right so far?**

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	11. Kill 'em All

**Team Switzerland - Team Seth: It was because she was all wrapped up in the spa stuff, she just couldn't move very well until she had wiggled around a bit. :)**

**Thanks for all the great reviews. I'm glad to know I'm getting Diesel down right. I'm going to start on his story next. I think that one might be a tad lemony?**

**I'm only at 53 reviews but that's okay, I'll still give you a new chapter!!! Much love!**

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I was freaking out just a little. I was locked in a bathroom. Apparently whoever was holding me didn't think of me as a threat. I was merely a hostage. I had a zip tie around my wrists and a gag in my mouth.

Apparently they didn't even think of me as a very smart hostage. I was able to search through the bathroom drawers and find a pair of nail scissors to cut the zip tie from my wrists. I cut myself up a little in the process but it was worth it, I got the gag off. I had been in the bathroom for hours.

There were no weapons in the bathroom and no window. Even if I could break down the door there were god knows how many people with guns just outside of it.

I sat down on the edge of the tub to think. The locked jiggled and I stood up. It was a woman who opened to door. She was dressed in a business suit and she had a crazy look in her eye.

"Well Hello Stephanie. It's so very nice to me Ranger's girlfriend. We're going to go ahead and call Ranger now and give him a little incentive to come meet me later on shall we?" Her voice sent a chill down the back of my neck. This lady was a psycho. She flipped open a phone and pushed a button. She had Ranger on speed dial? Creepy.

"Hello Ranger. Who I am isn't important at the moment, what's important is that I have your girlfriend. I guess so."

She handed the phone to me and I grabbed it eagerly. "Ranger?"

"Stephanie are you okay? Can you tell me anything about where you are? We're having trouble tracking the necklace. It's moving, are you moving?" I looked down, my necklace was gone.

"I'm okay, no, and it's gone." The psycho lady took back the phone before I could say anything else.

I pretended to examine a towel. I wanted her to talk in front of me. I needed to know what she was saying to Ranger.

"Here's the deal, if you turn yourself over to me I'll give Stephanie back to your men. Really? Well I'm glad you're so open to my deal. But just in case you're thinking of any funny business here is a little preview of what will happen if you fuck with me."

And then she shot me. I don't even know where the gun came from but that bitch shot me in the shoulder.

"FUCK! JESUS FUCKING CHRIST. HOLY SHIT YOU'RE FUCKING NUTS! YOU SHOT ME! Oh my god that's a lot of blood. Wow. You bitch you shot me." I might have been in shock a little bit. I'd been shot before, but I'd been expecting it, getting shot in the arm after having a gun waved in your face is one thing. Getting shot while examining a fucking towel is another.

I could hear Ranger yelling on the other end of the phone. The crazy bitch who just shot me started talking again.

"Oh you heard her, she's not dead. Meet me in an hour at the Hana mall. Otherwise you're little girlfriend might bleed out." She hung up.

I was holding my hand over my shoulder and blood was pouring out from between my fingers. "I can't believe you shot me! Cripes. Who the hell are you?"

"I'm an old friend of a friend. You might want to press a towel to that. Don't worry I plan to keep my word, as soon as I have Ranger we'll let you go. I do hope you last that long." She walked out of the bathroom and I heard the lock click into place behind her. She was obviously not thinking right. She had left her gun sitting on the counter. I grabbed it and checked the magazine, It was only missing the bullet she'd shot me with. It was a Glock 17 and the magazine now had 16 rounds. I hoped it would be enough. Twenty minutes later I heard the front door slam.

I put the gun under a towel in the in the shower caddy, out of sight but within reach. I wanted to see how many people were in the house before I tried to get out of the bathroom, but I didn't want anyone surprising me and seeing the gun before I got to use it.

I was wrapped in a towel and my blood was mixing with the clay and I felt horrible. It turned on the shower and quickly scrubbed myself. I got out, wrapped myself in a towel and put my hair in an elastic. I heard the door unlock. There was a big scary looking guy. He walked up to me and grabbed the towel. I struggled against him.

"Oh come on baby, it's not like your boyfriend will know. He's gonna be so dead. The boss lady just went to kill him. So now you're here with just me and John. You might as well have some fun with us." He grabbed my breast and squeezed hard. He had his hand up the towel. I grabbed the gun, swung it around and shot him in the forehead.

He keeled over backwards. I didn't feel anything. I didn't mind shooting him. I walked out of the bathroom to look for John before he could look for me. He came around the corner and I shot him too. I kept the gun aimed high, ready to shoot if there was anyone else.

I was fucking tired of being almost blown up and shot and kidnapped. I was just fucking tired of it. And I wasn't putting up with it any more. I stopped in shock as I got to the living room. They had Diesel tied to a chair and hooked up to an IV. It must have been something to keep him from waking up and fighting, or popping. I went over and ripped out the IV. He came around in seconds, fast metabolism apparently.

"Christ what happened?" I told him the Readers Digest version. I asked him to pop me to Ranger right away. He asked if I wanted clothes. We went to the back room quickly and I found some shorts and a tank top. I didn't bother with underwear or a bra and then Diesel grabbed my arm.

Suddenly we weren't in the house. We were at a closed mall. I was behind the crazy psycho bitch. She had another gun trained on Ranger. Ranger saw me but didn't give anything away.

I guess I was still pissed about her shooting me because I raised my gun and shot the crazy whore right in the back of her head. Ranger's eyes widened in shock. I kept shooting her, emptying the magazine into her chest. Ranger walked towards me.

"Babe, give the gun to Diesel." I handed it over and Ranger enveloped me in a big hug.

"I guess I saved your ass for once." I said as I cried into his neck.

Ranger laughed, "You sure did babe. We need to get out of here. Diesel can you take care of this?" I looked at Diesel, my eyes still teary. He nodded and poof the body was gone. I guess I wouldn't be charged with murder anytime soon.

We all got into Ranger's SUV and headed back to the hotel. We had a reunion with a very worried Lula and the guys. Ranger took me into the bedroom and sat me down. He unwrapped the towel from my arm and grimaced.

"We should really take you to a hospital." I shook my head no vigorously. Ranger sighed. "I can take care of it but it's going to hurt like a bitch."

"If we go to a hospital they will ask too many questions." I said and Ranger nodded.

"Do you have tweezers?" I told him where they were and he took a lighter and held them up to the flame, he washed them and doused them in the hydrogen peroxide I had in my cosmetics bag. He poured some on my arm and I screamed. I was barely holding it together as he fished the bullet out with the tweezers. He poured more peroxide on my arm and I dug my nails into his thigh.

"The worst is over." He pressed a hand doused in peroxide over the wound and I felt my skin tighten. I looked at the hole after he was gone and it looked like it had been glued together instead of stitched.

"Holy shit I was right!" I gave Ranger a hard look. I'd know Ranger for years and had no idea until the other day that he could possibly be an "unmentionable". I'd know Diesel exactly two minutes before he told me.

"I understand if you're mad with me. I was going to tell you. I promise. I just…I thought you would freak out. I was trying to ease you in. I'm sorry I can't do more about the bullet hole. I'm not a healer."

"I'm not mad…I'm…I don't even know. I'm tired. And I'm scared."

"Why are you scared? We got the bad guy. You got that bad guy."

"Ranger, I killed three people today and I can't make myself care. That scares me."

Ranger wrapped me into his arms and kissed my hair. "Stephanie, that doesn't make you a bad person. You're mind is doing what it needs to so that you don't break down. You are a good person. You're the best person I know."

I smiled into his neck. "I need to take a shower." I couldn't stand up. I needed the shower bad though. Ranger seemed to sense what was going on and he carried me to the bathroom. He set me down on my feet, keeping his arm around my waist and turned the shower onto hot. He stripped off the clothes I was wearing and then stepped out of his shoes and into the shower with me. He stood there and held me as I cried, he was still fully dressed. He slid down the wall with me and kept holding me until the water ran cold.

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**Don't worry its not the end! So good? Bad? Funny? Let me know! **


	12. Mind Reader

**DayDreaminDeb: **You'll find out more about Psycho lady very soon. This is gonna stay a babe story. I'll be starting another story today or tomorrow that's Diesel and Stephanie (but with appearances from all of your favorite characters)!

**To everyone who commented on strong kick ass Stephanie: **Glad you liked it! I think being with Ranger is going to harden her up a little. I don't think any amount of training could change her luck though. She'll still be rolling in garbage and blowing stuff up. ;)

**So without further ado: More story. **

**Standard Disclaimer applies. I love J. Evanovich and wouldn't dream of stealing her characters. I might borrow them, but as much as I wish it, they don't belong to me. **

When I woke up Ranger was already awake and sititng in a chair in the corner doing something on his laptop. This was nothing knew. Ranger was always up until after I fell asleep and awake before I was. Come to think of it, Ranger was always breaking into my house in the middle of the night. I was beginning to wonder if Ranger slept at all. Maybe Ranger wasn't unmentionable. Maybe Ranger was just the Edward Cullen of New Jersey. Oh wait no. I'd seen him in the sun. No sparkles. Oh well. Still the no sleep thing had me wondering.

"Babe don't think so hard, you're gonna give yourself a brain aneurism," Ranger said as put the laptop down. He came over to the bed and kissed my forehead.

"Can you read my mind too?"

"Who can read your mind?" He seemed genuinely surprised and intrigued by this comment.

"Diesel can. I don't think he used to be able to do it, but now he can. Watch."

**Diesel come in here.**

Diesel opened the door and smirked at me. "What?"

**Fruit! Pancakes! Bacon! Eggs!**

Diesel picked up the phone and put in my breakfast order. I looked at Ranger. "See?!"

"You told him to order you breakfast?" Ranger looked like he might laugh.

"We'll I told him what I wanted." Ranger looked at Diesel critically.

"Is this for real? I can't read minds. Why can you read minds?"

"I can only read Stephanie's mind because we're so similar personality wise."

We were? That's kind of scary. I didn't think I was anything like Diesel. I looked at Ranger.

"Can you pop?"

"Pop? No. I shimmer."

"You shimmer?"

"Yep."

"Let me see."

Ranger sighed but shimmered. It wasn't really a shimmer. It sort of looked like when you can see the heat coming off of something. There was no pressure change like with Diesel. Huh. Ranger shimmered back.

"Wow. What else can you do?"

"Uh…locks…safes…I have ultra accuracy with guns, I can't really miss. A little healing. And some stupid parlor tricks."

"Like what?"

"Change my hair color, make the dice roll however I want. Pull a bunny out of a hat. Shit like that."

"Can you make your hair blue?" I blinked and Ranger had electric blue hair. I blinked again and it was normal. I sputtered a little. Whoa. I stood up and both Ranger and Diesel were looking at me. I looked down. I was naked. Crap. I don't remember getting naked.

"Oh yeah I can do _that_ too." I wasn't sure quite what he meant by that. I jumped under the covers and hid my head. Diesel chuckled.

"I'm leaving now. You can come out." I heard the door shut and I peeked out from under the covers. Ranger was staring at me. He had a fuck me now look on his face. He stalked slowly over to the bed and pulled the covers off of me. He ran a hand down my stomach and my lady parts caught on fire. Oh yeah he can do _that _too. Oh boy could he ever.

Someone knocked on the door and I groaned.

"Steph your food is here." Nice of Diesel to knock, he didn't usually bother.

"I'm not hungry anymore." My stomach growled really loudly.

"Yeah okay…"

Ranger kissed me gently. "Babe you need to eat. Plus we're here for two weeks."

I got up and pulled on a bikini. My sunburn still hurt a little but I looked more tanned then lobsterish now. I shrugged on a tank top and some board shorts. "We're staying?"

"Yup. Figured we might as well have some fun. What do you want to do today?"

"Snorkle!" He kissed me again. I pressed myself up against him and heard him groan.

"Babe go eat your breakfast. I'm going to get changed." Ranger was dressed in normal Ranger gear. I guess it really wasn't beach wear.

Lula was at the breakfast table when I sat down. Hal and Tank acknowledged me with a brief grin. They were in their matching outfits again. Ranger and Diesel walked out of their rooms at the same time.

Ranger was wearing black board shorts that were slung low on his hips. He had black flip flops on his feet and his hair was falling over his forehead in a definite 'I'm a surfer and I don't care look.' His muscles bunched under his light mocha colored skin as he walked. Wow.

Diesel was wearing board shorts with Hawaiian flowers on them. Any other guy would have looked ridiculous but Diesel pulled it off. His hair was standing up every which way. His skin was tan. His muscles were big. Another wow.

I heard a crash and looked at Lula. She had dropped her coffee mug. "Oops."

Lula stood up and bent over to grab the mug. Ranger looked like he would have dropped his coffee mug if he'd had one. Lula was wearing her Bootylicious bikini.

I grabbed my tote bag and towel and we all headed out. We went to the beach and Ranger asked around until we found the best place to snorkel. Ranger rented gear and then surprised me by renting a small power boat. Apparently we were going to Molokini Crater which was about three miles out.

Ranger went into his zone while he drove the boat and we were at the Crater quickly.

The water was warm and so I just pulled on my rash guard instead of my full wet suite. The guys went in just their board shorts. Lula insisted on wearing a wetsuit. We got her shoe horned in and the rest of us got our gear on and into the water we went.

I swam next to Ranger staring at him under the water. Watching him swim was amazing. Watching Tank and Hal swim was funny. They were so big that they kind of blundered through the water like wounded manatees. Ranger swam like shark, all grace and speed and agility. I floated and darted around like an angel fish. Lula barged through the water like a ship. And Diesel was hard to pin point. Diesel was fast but he was more easily distracted than Ranger. I think Diesel was kind of a Dory fish like on Nemo…

We'd been swimming for about an hour when I saw the white tip shark. I'd done a lot of research while I was in the hospital and knew they were harmless. Apparently Lula did not realize this because she freaked out. Lula was suddenly a sinking ship. She was flailing her arms around and her snorkel had come out of her mouth because she was screaming. Tank and Hal dragged Lula's head to the surface and then dragged her onto the boat. Lula decided to sunbathe for the rest of the afternoon.

I was getting tired and I went to the surface, the guys were right behind me. Ranger helped me get up into the boat and we went back to the island. We decided to check out the hotel pools and we were all amazed. There were lazy rivers, water slides and bars that you had to swim under waterfalls to find. Ranger, Diesel, Hal and me were all sitting in said bar while Lula and Tank rode the water slide. Diesel dared me to do a tequila shot and so I asked Ranger to help. I licked the salt off of his wrist, took the shot and then sucked on the lime that was in his mouth. Wowsers.

They guys got me drunk off my ass for fun and I found that I couldn't quite walk as we tried to get out of the pool. Ranger scooped me up and carried me back the bungalow. He set me down next to the shower and smiled. Maybe Ranger couldn't read my mind but he always knew what I wanted. I stripped off my suit and grabbed his arm as he went to leave. I bit my lip and then pulled his board shorts down his hips and pulled him into the shower with me.


	13. Top Secret

**Hi! Thank you again for all the reviews! You guys are great!**

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Team Switzerland - Team Seth: Haha, I'm semi obsessed. Okay maybe completely obssessed. Funny story: I'm a nanny and the little person I watch spilled silver glitter all over me. I went to leave for the day and a little girl in the yard next door screamed "MOM! I TOLD YOU VAMPIRES ARE REAL! THE LADY NEXTDOOR IS ONE!"

**JerseySue: **I think I pegged them pretty good. LOL. Steph has the power to attract extemely hot men.

**BellaBear:** You bow to me? I'm a princess!Whoo!!!

**Okay so I did get the first chapter of the Diesel/Steph story out. **_**It's a Bad Bad Idea **_**is out! So give me some reviews and let me know how I'm doing on that one!**

**I have tomorrow off of work so the more reivews I get the faster I'll work on a new chapter.**

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If I had to pick only one activity to do for the rest of my life it would be to have sex with Ranger. In the shower, on the counter, in the bed, on a table, up against a wall, any way it all. Ranger had skills in almost every area imaginable and sex was no different.

I woke up and turned over. Ranger was on his side just looking at me with a smile on his face. I grinned back at him and scooted a little closer.

"Mornin babe."

"Good morning Ranger."

"You know you can call me Carlos if you want." He was running his fingers up and down my side.

I must've made a face because he laughed. "Or not."

"It's just that I've always known you as Ranger. You just seem like a Ranger to me. Maybe when were little old people sitting on our porch in rocking chairs I'll call you Carlos." Right after I said it I realized that I'd made a reference to the very far future. Crap.

"I'll still be calling you babe." Oh. He did it too. Wow. Huh. "What do you want to do today?"

"Surf. I want to try to get up and stay up for more than two seconds. Do you know how to surf?" I brushed a lock of his hair from his eyes.

"I used to, it's been years though. I think I was on leave the last time."

"I don't know very much about you."

"What do you want to know?"

Everything. "Favorite color?

"Blue."

"Why?" I would have guessed black.

"It's the color of your eyes." Hmm. I smiled.

"Oh. Best friend?"

"You."

"Besides me?"

"Tank."

"If you could have a pet what would it be?"

"Cat." That was surprising.

A picture of Ranger as a little old man with a million cats filled my head. "DIESEL STOP PUTTING PICTURES IN MY HEAD!"

I swear I actually heard him giggle. "It's time to surf!"

I drug myself out of bed and put on a green bikini with little cheeky boy shorts. I threw on a short sleeved rash guard to keep my bikini from ending up around my neck, or worse in the ocean, and sat down to watch Ranger.

He pulled on a pair of dark blue Board shorts and slid his black flip flops on. There was something to be said for being here. It was easier to get ready and I liked Ranger's island attire better than his Jersey wear.

It even suited Lula pretty good. Her bikinis covered almost as much as her normal clothes and at least here the colors worked.

Ranger and I ate breakfast quickly, pancakes and bacon for me, fruit and yogurt for Ranger. We might never agree on food.

We trouped down to the beach where Lula laid out, Tank and Hal decided just to swim and Ranger, Diesel and I went to rent boards. We paddled out and this time both guys matched themselves to my pace. The three of us sat on our boards in an easy silence. Diesel and I would always be good friends, and I think he had too much respect for Ranger to poach on his territory.

A wave came and both Diesel and Ranger got up and rode it in. I fell. The same thing happened over and over. I got better each round; Diesel giving me hints and tips. Ranger stayed silent for the most part, not butting into my lesson.

After two hours I finally rode a wave in. I jumped off my board and ran to give Diesel a hug. He had taught me how to surf. Ranger congratulated me with a kiss that made me glad I was in the water.

I got high fives from the men. Lula was asleep in the sand and had no idea what I had managed. I decided to sit and watch Ranger and Diesel surf. Ranger was good but Diesel surfed like he'd been born on a board. Diesel was Kelly Slater but even hotter. When Diesel stopped trying to teach me he got in the zone and soon we had a whole beach full of people watching him.

Ranger came in and sat with me on the beach.

"What did you want to be when you were little?" I doubted Ranger had thought about being a mercenary when he was little.

"The usual things, firefighter, policeman, rock star, teacher. What about you?"

"Teacher? I just can't picture that. Um, Peterpan, Wonder Woman, Rock Star, Rock Stars girlfriend. I settled on bounty hunter after a lot of thought and training.

"You blackmailed Vinny into hiring you after you got laid off from the panty place."

"That's exactly what I just said." Ranger laughed. "Okay uh…one secret?"

"I don't have to do this anymore. I have more than enough money. I do it because I enjoy my work."

"Who was she?" I hadn't asked yet, I hadn't been ready to talk about the woman I killed.

"Jane Manard. Her husband and I were friends. I took a bullet for him on a mission. I was just a stupid kid and I got myself in some trouble. He died trying to get me out of it. She was pregnant when I took the bullet for him. They named their son after me. After Rick died…she hated me, she blamed me. I'm sorry she brought you into this. I'm sorry I got you in trouble again."

I scooted closer to Ranger and laid my head on his shoulder. "It's not your fault. Do you still do jobs for the government?"

"Mm. Sometimes. I'm not really allowed to talk about it."

"Top secret stuff eh? Assassinating world leaders?" I laughed but stopped when I looked at Ranger. He was staring away from me with a hard look on his face. "You're kidding me right?"

He gave a barely noticeable shake of his head. "I've done bad things Stephanie. I'm not a good person."

"I killed three people last night. That doesn't make me a bad person. You told me last night I was the best person you know. Well you're the best person I know."


	14. Yes Sir!

**Hey all. This chapter is a bit lemony but also kind of dark. Hope you enjoy reading it. Don't worry the story won't stay dark. I'm working on another chapter right after this. **

**Mary Lyon**: I don't think Diesel would do that. Even in this story Diesel likes Steph and I don't think he'd want to witness that. I'm sure he had no qualms though about reading her thoughts during her private times though. Lol.

**Rangers gurl4eva:** Here is your smut!

**amkp:** I'm glad you like the story! I think part of the fun of Diesel is that he should complicate Steph's life but he just fits himself in. That being said this is a Babe fic and Diesel won't be around forever.

**concetta33:** It could be. to tell the truth I don't usually think ahead more then a few sentances.

**Team Switzerland - Team Seth:** Haha, I'd drown for some Ranger. And yeah, man those Cullens get my angsty side going.

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Our days in Maui fell into a comfortable pattern. We'd surf or snorkel, lie on the beach or hang out at the pool. After three days Diesel came to say goodbye. He was off to do a capture. He assured me I'd see him soon.

Connie called later that night. They needed Lula to come back and file and do some easy FTA's. Lula left the next morning. Tank and Hal blended into the background.

Ranger and I hadn't really examined our relationship yet. I didn't know what he wanted; hell I didn't know what I wanted. Well that's not true. I wanted Ranger, I just wasn't quite sure what that meant.

I turned over after waking up and I was surprised to see Ranger still sleeping. He was on his back with his face turned towards me, a small smile on his lips. The sheet was riding low on his hips and it made a sigh hitch in my throat.

I straddled Ranger's stomach and grinned as his eyes fluttered open. I bent my head down and nipped at his neck. He rolled swiftly and had me pinned under him. Ranger had always let me set our limits, be in charge of our relationship. It felt like he was taking charge now. He pinned my arms above my head and start kissing me. He licked and bit my lips and then started biting down my neck. I was getting little jolts of pain along with the pleasure and it was making me want him even more.

My head was spinning and I was making frantic little moans as he bit down my body. His lips closed over my nipple and my whole body shook. I could feel the wetness pooling in between my thighs as I squeezed them together to create a little bit of the friction that I so badly needed. Rangers ESP came in handy just then. His hand slowly made its way down my stomach. When his fingers finally brushed over me I tried to grind myself against his hand. One second I was trying to get just a little contact from one finger and the next he had three fingers shoved inside me, moving in and out of me and making my body arch off of the bed.

Ranger flipped me so I was on my stomach and then pulled me up so my ass was in the air and I was on my knees and hands. Before I could fully figure out what was happening Ranger was shoving into me from behind. He was slamming into me and I was rocking my hips back to meet his thrusts. I was over the edge in seconds, biting a pillow as I held onto the headboard.

I clenched around him and he kept shoving himself in me, harder and faster with every thrust. He reached around and started rubbing my clit and I came again. One continuous orgasm was rolling through me when Ranger finally gave a low moan and bit my shoulder, spilling inside me.

I collapsed and Ranger lay down next to me.

"Mi Dios." I was having a hard time forming words so I just turned and kissed his chest. Ranger's cell phone rang and I thought briefly about grabbing his gun and shooting it.

"Ranger." He was a man of many words. "Yes sir. I'm not in Trenton sir. Maui sir. Yes sir." He hung up and I was wondering who the hell Ranger would call sir. He turned back toward me, a dark look on his gorgeous face.

"Babe. I'm sorry. I have a job to do."

I didn't have to ask what kind of job. I knew it would be black ops. They wouldn't use Ranger for anything less. If you had batman you fucking used him. I nodded at Ranger and got up to pack. I wouldn't stay here if he was leaving.

"You can stay at the Batcave of course. I'll be offline. I don't know where I'm going. I'm not sure how long I'll be gone. My ops never last for more than a few weeks, usually only a few days. I'm sorry to do this now…I…I'm just sorry. I love you Stephanie."

"It's okay, I understand. Just make sure nothing happens to you. I'll be pissed if you get hurt."

"Batman doesn't get hurt babe."

We finished packing and getting dressed in silence. I put on a bikini and covered it with a cute strapless dress. I was going back to Trenton but I was gonna show off this tan for all it was worth. My hair was beach sexy, lightened by the sun and my skin was almost as dark as Ranger's mocha yummyness.

Ranger checked us out and we made our way to the airport. He wasn't going to Trenton, his first stop, the only one he could tell me about, was D.C. After that he would be sent out and I wouldn't know when he was coming back.

He kissed me like he might not come back and it scared me. Tank, Hal and I watched Ranger board the plane. He looked back at the last second and gave me a heart wrenching smile. Our flight was leaving soon after Ranger's so we crossed the airport to our terminal.

"He always comes back Steph." Tank laid a hand on my shoulder and I smiled at him.

"How many of these jobs has he done?"

"Hundreds." I hadn't thought it would be that many. I had to wonder if they were all kill missions, or if he did other stuff as well. I knew he couldn't tell me when he got back. I had known for a long time that Ranger had killed people, and I thought maybe I should be bothered by it, but I wasn't. Ranger did what he had to do, just like we all did. At the end of the day we were all mercenaries.

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**I know, I know a little short. It just seemed like a good place to stop this chapter. I'm not done for the night yet thought! So if your good little readers and give me some reviews I'll post the next chapter tonight too! **


	15. Little Blue Box

**See I promised another chapter and here we are! And this one is longer!**

**dyanae****:** Thanks a bunch that's super sweet!

**Rangers gurl4eva:** Lol, not neccesary, but the sentiment is appreciated!

**BellaBear:** OMG do you think I would really do that???

**JerseySue:** *Pats on Head*

**So as always, tell me what you think! If you haven't already please go read **_**It's a Bad Bad Idea. **_

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We landed in Jersey and my mood lifted when I saw how nice it was. I wouldn't freeze while showing off my tan. Tank dropped me off at the office; he said he'd be back in a bit with a vehicle for me.

Connie stared open mouthed when I walked in to the office.

"What? What's wrong?" I checked my hair to make sure it was still there and made sure none of my lady parts were showing.

"Fuck milk, Ranger did your body some good." It was true, all of the water activities (and bedroom activities) had helped me tone up a little. My skin was tan, my hair was sexy. I was looking pretty good. I grinned at Connie and she started piling skips on me. Joy.

Vinnie walked in the office and gave me a creepy weasel grin for a good twenty seconds before it dawned on him who I was. "Fuck. Christ. What happened with you? Someone hit you with a pretty stick?" I gave him my best dark glare and he actually backed up a step. "Christ did Ranger teach you that?" He walked into his office and slammed the door. I heard the deadbolt slam into place.

The door behind me jingled as someone opened it and Connie fanned herself.

"Hey Connie, will you tell Steph I need to talk to her whenever she decides to come home?" It was Joe. I turned around and Joe's mouth dropped open. Cripes what had I looked like before?

"Hey Joe."

"Hey Cupcake." He kept staring at me, at my boobs actually.

"Joe did you need something?" He looked back to my face.

"Where's Ranger?"

"On a job. Was there anything else?" My voice was cold.

"Uh…yeah… Bob misses you. Do you wanna have dinner with me and Bob?"

"Joe come on. I can't do this with you. I'm not going to go around circles anymore. We're done. I'm done. I am a different person then when I left. Then when we were together."

"You're different huh? What made you so different in less than two weeks?"

"Learning to surf, to snorkel, to scuba dive, climbing volcanoes, getting kidnapped, shooting three people in the heads, that all made me change." I stopped after realizing what I had said. Shit. Joe was going to do his Italian thing now. He would waive his arms around and yell.

"You what?"

"I nothing. I got caught up in the heat of the moment. I learned how to surf."

"Stephanie, I'm going to pretend I didn't just hear that you shot three people. I'm going to hope to fucking god that no one finds any evidence. And I am going to fucking pray that Ranger gets killed on whatever crazy fucking mission he is on right now before he can come back here and get you killed." Joe turned and walked out the office door. I was left standing there staring in shock. I was still standing there shaking, five minutes later when Tank showed up with my car. He came in and asked what was wrong. I just shook my head but Connie filled him in. Tanks eyes filled with a dark rage that made him seem almost as scary as Ranger.

I just shook my head at him. If he did or said something to Joe, Ranger would be angry. I didn't want Tank to get into trouble. Tank gave me the keys to my new car and walked outside. I followed him, noting that I still had bodyguards. I walked over to the SUV and started chatting with Lester and Cal, something to get my mind off of what Morelli had said.

I told the guys that we were headed to my parents and looked for my new car. I had seen it in the garage but it looked amazingly expensive and I had no idea what it was. I asked the guys.

"Lamborghini Gallardo." Lester looked like he might start drooling.

"Huh, cool." I slid in the car and turned it on and started to pull out of my parking space. The car almost made me happy again. My Grandma must have heard the car because she was on the little front stoop waiting when I stopped the car. Her eyes were wide when I stepped out. "Helen! There is some hot chick in a fancy car out here. Oh wait. I think its Stephanie." I was seriously considering getting back in the car and driving home.

I sighed and walked to greet Grandma. "Hey."

"How was your trip? No one would tell us where you were. You're mother has been ironing for two weeks. She's been tippling a lot too. She was ironing while toasted the other day and ran over her hand with the iron."

Christ. Just one day ago I was so happy…I followed Grandma in and got the "whoa" stares from my mom, dad and sister Valerie. My sister's husband Albert said "aaaaaaa" and walked away.

I had a normal, for my family, family dinner and then started the drive back to Ranger's. I pulled in front of the house and left the keys in the car. I knew it would be put away in the garage. I said hello to Ella.

"Stephanie, can I ask you a personal question?"

"Sure Ella. What's up?"

"Well I'm wondering about your relationship with Carlos. He called to say you'd be staying his room and that you were to be treated the same way he is. That you're in charge of the house. I'm just wondering if you guys are getting married?"

Wow. Ranger left me in charge? "Oh. Well, no I don't think we're getting married. We're just dating."

"Hmm. Okay darling. Let me show you Ranger's room. All your clothes have been put in there already, plus all the stuff you brought back from your vacation."

Ranger's room looked homier than his apartment at RangeMan. There were pictures scattered around and a jacket thrown over a chair arm. I looked at the pictures and smiled. There were pictures of his parents and siblings. Pictures of Julie, pictures of me. I was surprised by that. There was one of us that Lula had snapped outside the bonds office one day, we were pressed together looking in each other's eyes. I had a copy of that too. I never thought that Ranger would have one. There were a few other candid's of me, one of me laughing, one where I was sitting on the hood of his Porsche giving him a sultry look, that he'd taken with his cell phone and obviously printed out somehow. There was a picture of Julie and I hugging before she went home after our encounter with Scrog. I don't know who had taken it but it made me smile.

I looked in Rangers closet. It held normal people clothes on one side and RangeMan clothes on the other. I still didn't find any underwear. I knew from experience that he didn't wear any. I pushed a button near the door and a panel popped open. There was a keypad and I didn't know the number. So I did what anyone would do. I tried to figure It out. I tried Ranger's birthday, Julies birthday and then out of curiosity my birthday. I didn't know Ranger or Julie's social security numbers so I tried mine and heard a click. Huh. Well he wouldn't have used a number I would know if he hadn't wanted me to look. I opened the door. It was bigger inside than I would have thought. There were stacks of $100 bills, probably half a million dollars by my estimate. A box of passports, I looked through them, several for Ranger with different names and even different countries of origin, several for Julie and several for me. Wow. Ranger was prepared. There were ID's and birth certificates that matched the passports. Credit cards too. I'd stumbled across Ranger's 'just in case' flight plans.

I started sifting through the other stuff in the safe. There were some military medals, a box full of important documents like Ranger's real birth certificate. It made me happy that I at least knew all the information on it. I picked up a little blue shopping bag and looked inside. There was a little blue box. I've seen these boxes before. They were the boxes that Tiffany engagement rings came in.

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**Cliff hanger! Muhahahaha!**


	16. Just Stun 'Em

**So I wanna get this chapter up, so no individual reveiw responses. Thank you to everyone though! Thanks to BellaBear and Team Switzerland - Team Seth for recommending my story!!! **

**So I hope everyone loves this chapter! R&R pretty please!**

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The little blue box was burning a hole in my mind. It couldn't really be what I thought it was could it? Ranger and I weren't even technically dating. Oh my god! What if it's for someone else? What if Ranger was dating someone else? No that makes even less sense than him asking me to marry him. Maybe it's not an engagement ring. Maybe he bought me earrings. I bet its earrings.

Once I decided the little blue box held earrings I wasn't any less freaked out so I put it back and closed the safe. And then I closed the secret door. And then the closet door, just for good measure.

Ranger's shower sounded like a good idea so I blasted the hot water and lathered up with his Bulgari shower gel. It made me miss him like crazy. I was hoping that where ever he was he was safe.

Morelli had crossed a major line today and I didn't quite know how to handle it. I didn't for one second buy Joe's theory that if I quit my job and stopped hanging around Ranger I would be safe.

Yeah quitting my job was an option. Quitting Ranger wasn't. I personally thought I was safer around Ranger. Ranger had highly trained guys watching over me twenty-four seven. Yeah my cars might get firebombed a lot, but I'm pretty sure the merry men thwart a lot of kidnapping attempts. Like probably 90% of them.

I crawled into Ranger's bed but couldn't stop my brain from going full speed ahead. I worried about the ring, I worried about Ranger. Would I get a chance to find out what was in the box? Ranger had told me time and time again that he wasn't the marrying type of guy. Had that changed?

For that matter did I want to get married? I'd been married before for one half of a second and it hadn't turned out so well. Joe and I had talked marriage but we'd never gotten much past the talking stage.

I'd just spent over a week straight with Ranger. I hadn't once been annoyed with him or angry. I'd been blissfully happy the whole time. Ranger and I could get along as a couple. We understood each other.

Maybe I shouldn't think about marriage until it was an option. Maybe I needed to be happy just dating. Hell I'd be happy with an actual date. I wondered what Ranger was doing right now, what time it was and if he was sleeping. What kind of mission he was on. I'd seen him come back before looking like he hadn't gotten to sleep or eat in days. My eyes finally clothes and my thoughts became blurred.

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The sun was shining when I woke up. I had a pile of skips to catch and some kick ass clothes to do it in. I dressed in some cute jeans and a tank top. Simple but I think I looked okay. I was on my way to the garage when a man in black who I'd never seen before stopped me.

"Ranger wanted you to look through his…uh…supplies and pick out whatever you need."

Okay. I followed the unnamed man into a library. He pushed a button that opened another secret door and then punched in a code. Oh my god I'd found the actual batcave. The room was the size of a small house or apartment. The walls were covered in guns, some were ones I could recognize, others looked like they were lasers or something. There were shelves full of gadgets and tracking devices. Ranger had a full arsenal.

I took cuffs and a high powered stun gun, I belted a holster on and picked a gun and bullets.

I decided to use the Lamborghini again. It was a hot car and I'd need something to get Lula to come with me on my mission to get skips.

I pulled up in front of the office and Lula came out before I could open my door. She hopped in the passenger side after waving at Tank and Lester.

"Good lord Ranger's cars are almost as hot as he is."

"Mmm. I have a bunch of skips I need to get today. First up is Tony Colten. Twenty-five years old. Got caught stealing lingerie from the mall. He was wearing it. I've got his home address, apparently he doesn't have a job."

"Whats a matter with you?"

"Nothing is wrong with me. I've got a pile of skips to get is all. If you don't want to help then don't." I was feeling suddenly bitchy.

"Uh huh. I'm helping. No need to go crazy on me."

We drove to Colten's house and I knocked. He answered the door and I stun gunned him. I cuffed him and drug him back to the car. We got a body recipet. I repeated the drill three more times with three more skips. Lula was staring at me like I was possessed.

Our fifth skip was a higher bond. He'd been arrested for shooting his girlfriend. When he opened to door he saw my stun gun and punched me twice in the face. Hard. Fuck that hurt. I took out my gun and shot him in the leg.

"JESUS! YOU SHOT ME!"

"Oh I got shot the other day. Stop whining." I stun gunned him and he went down. I cuffed him and Lula helped me get him into the car.

"Girl you're in a bad mood. You shot that guy."

"He deserved it."

She raised her eyebrow and then shook her head. I knew I was being crazy, I didn't need Lula to tell me that. What I needed was to get my mind off of Ranger.

"Steph your nose is crooked and bleeding. Maybe we should get both of you to the hospital." I scowled and flipped a u-turn. I called the station to get someone to meet me and take asshole off my hands.

I walked into emergency, dragging asshole and sat him down in a chair. I told the admit nurse our injuries and sat down to wait. Carl Costanza walked in followed by Morelli. Shit. Carl came over and got my story.

"So the guy grabbed your gun and shot himself in the leg?"

"Yup."

"Alright sounds good." Carl walked off and Morelli came and sat next to me.

"Are you okay?" Joe sounded stressed. Well good. "So five skips in one day. I heard they were all juiced unconscious. Not a bad method. Jeanie said you looked like a woman on a mission."

I didn't answer. My nose and right eye were throbbing.

"Stephanie I'm sorry. I stepped over the line yesterday."

"Stepped over the line? YOU STEPPED OVER THE LINE? YOU RAN OVER THE FUCKING LINE! YOU CAN'T EVEN SEE THE LINE! YOU STUPID ARROGANT PRICK! YOU WISHED HIM DEAD!" I melted down onto the ground. I had tears streaming out of my eyes. I had lost it. I wasn't sobbing but I wasn't together. I seemed to be having an abornormally large amount of break downs lately. I looked up at Joe. "I'll never forgive you Joe. If he doesn't come home…I'll never forgive you." I pulled myself up and sat back down.

"I'd never forgive myself Cupcake." Joe stood up and walked away, his hands shoved in his pockets and his shoulders hunched. Lester came and sat next to me.

"You okay bombshell?"

"Yeah I guess."

"You know Ranger has changed a lot sense you came into the picture. He used to go do his thing without a look back. He didn't seem to really care how long he was gone or when he came home. Now he doesn't like to go, to leave you and he can't wait to get back. You give Ranger purpose. But he's not any softer than he was, if anything he is more ruthless because of that purpose. He goes in there knowing what he's going to do and failure never enters his mind. He feels guilty when he leaves now though. You want Ranger to feel guiltier than he already does?"

"No."

"Then buck up. Ranger will be fine. You just need to believe that." Lester had never seemed the type of guy to give pep talks but his was pretty good. I nodded and smiled at Lester.

"Ms. Plum? Let's take a look at that nose." I sighed and followed the nurse, flanked by two of my guards.

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**Not too bad? :)**


	17. Thank Goodness for Kevlar

**JerseySue:** Thank you for my 100th review!

**amkp: **I guess I didn't explain the box well enough. Tiffany ring/earring boxes come in an outer wrapped box with a bow. I don't think she'd wanna make Ranger mad by unwrapping it.

**I'm hoping everyone is still likeing the story. **

**Warning: Ending is a little lemony. **

**I have another chapter all written. I'll post it after editing and getting...15 Reviews! ;)

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**

My nose was broken and I was going to have two very black eyes. There had been some talk of a fractured cheekbone and surgery but luckily a CAT scan proved that unnecessary. I was given some pain medication and a prescription for more.

The Lamborghini was gone and I was supposed to ride home with Tank and Lester. Both Tank and Lester looked like they were worried Ranger was going to kick their asses whenever he got home.

"Guys come on, you couldn't have stopped this. I was doing my job."

"I'm still on probation from when you got kidnapped." Tank said with a grimace and headshake.

I giggled, "Probation? He puts you on probation? That's just silly. Do ya have ta do communininininty service?"

Tank looked at Lester, "I think her medicine is kicking in."

"No shit."

Tank and Lester hauled me up to Ranger's room and sat me on the bed. They said goodnight and left, closing the door behind them.

I didn't remember falling asleep but I woke up as someone opened the door. I froze, wondering who the hell had enough skills to get into Ranger's house.

"Sorry babe, didn't mean to wake you." Ranger flipped on the light and I was out of the bed and flying across the room before I realized it. Ranger wrapped his arms around me and kissed my head.

"You're home!"

"Yeah babe, I'm home." He tilted my face up to kiss me and winced when he saw my face. Oh yeah. "What happened?" He had his blank face on now and his voice was hard.

"A skip didn't want me to stun gun him. It's okay though. I shot him in the leg." I grinned and Ranger's blank face was replaced by a huge grin.

"That's my girl. Does it hurt?"

"Yeah. A little. I'm glad you're home safe."

"Did you doubt my abilities babe?" He kissed my gently and back me up until I was at the bed.

"Nope." I popped the p when I said it and then pulled him down.

"Babe, I want you, a lot. But I haven't slept, showered, or eaten more than a power bar since you saw me last."

I looked at Ranger as seriously as I could, "Now that you mention it, you do kinda stink."

"Babe." Ranger walked into the bathroom and I followed him. I sat on the counter and watched him strip down. He had several round bruises on his chest.

"What are those?" I nodded towards his chest.

"I took a couple of hits. I was wearing a vest." His voice was nonchalant, like it happened a lot. I knew it wouldn't help to freak out so I just nodded. He stopped into the shower and I slipped out of the bathroom. I walked to the kitchen and made Ranger some eggs and sliced some fruit. I grabbed a bottle of water and went back upstairs.

Ranger was just walking out of the bathroom. "I thought maybe you were upset with me."

"I thought maybe you'd want something to eat. I can't really cook much…but…" I trailed off, not really sure where to go from there.

Ranger stared at me for a moment and shook his head slightly. "That's very sweet babe. You're still in trouble for snooping in the safe."

"You've been home 10 minutes! How did you know?"

"I didn't." He raised an eyebrow. Damn.

"Oops. So…you gonna tell me what's in the little blue box with the little white bow?"

"No."

"Are you mad?"

"No, I'm not even surprised." He took a bite of eggs. "I've got some free time tomorrow. I'll help you bring in a few more skips and then maybe we could go to dinner if you want?"

"That would be good." I sat with Ranger while he finished eating and then we both crawled into bed.

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The sun was streaming in through the windows when I woke up. I looked at the bedside clock and blinked. It was almost noon. Ranger was still sleeping beside me, I crawled out of bed as quietly as I could and ran hot water for a shower. I was washing my hair when I felt the shower door open behind me.

"You need some help?" Ranger's voice was husky in ear and it sent a shiver down my spine. He had spun me around and hitched one of my legs around his waist before I could answer. I pulled my other leg up around his waist and he slammed me into the shower wall. I moaned and tilted my head back so he could kiss my neck. I could feel him hard in between my thighs. I tilted my hips and he slammed all the way inside me. I clawed at his back and begged him to fuck me harder. "God I missed you babe."

I was getting closer and closer to peaking as he shoved himself inside of me. He reached between us started rubbing my clit. I looked down and watched him pound in an out of me. I fell off the ledge I'd been on and screamed into his shoulder. I could feel myself clamping around him over and over and then he tensed, thrusting into me a few times as deeply as he could before spilling inside of me.

We stayed braced against the wall for several moments while we caught our breaths.

"Steph will you move in with me?"

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**Kind of short, but worth it I hope? And no being mad! I brought him home, safe and sound. Lemme know what you think and what you want. **


	18. Late Night Swim

**Nurseratchet: **Smut=lemon! :)

**Cassie: **Thank you! Lol. Much easier! Yeah I was thinking that Ranger would think she did and thats why he tricked her into telling him.

**Thank you to everyone for the reviews. Should we make at least 15 the new rule? Hmmm....**

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I traced over his bruises gently. His stomach and chest muscles tensed up and I watched drops of water travel down them. "Like roommates?"

"Like a couple."

"A couple of what?"

"A couple of people who love each other. Keep up babe." Ranger's smirk was a little distracting.

"Yeah."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Sometimes I used to think of Ranger as Mr. Right Now, but he'd somehow morphed into just Mr. Right. His change of attitude made me more and more sure of this.

I laughed and we both got ready for our day. Ranger cocked an eyebrow at me as I added my holster and gun to my outfit. "Your rules. You said I needed to start carrying my gun."

"I'm just amazed you're listening to me for once."

I gave him a sarcastic smirk as we walked out the door. We stopped in the kitchen and I gave Rex a grape. Rex twitched his whiskers at me and then took the grape and hid in his soup can.

"I feel very loved." The comment was made to Rex but Ranger chuckled.

Ranger keyed the first address into his GPS unit. My anger and worry was gone today but my method had worked so good that I decided to stick with it. Knock, stun, and take in.

"You're gonna want to be careful babe. You could get in trouble."

"I thought of that!" I cuffed the guy and then walked into the kitchen and found some whiskey. I pinched the skip and when he woke up I had him do a few shots. I dribbled a little whiskey on his shirt. I stunned him again to make him easy to move. "See even if he complains they'll just think he's drunk and crazy.

Ranger's face was priceless. He grinned and shook his head and helped me get skip one to the car. We picked up skip two on the way to the station. Ranger helped me haul them both in. Joe was at the desk when we got there.

He looked at both of us and then walked away.

"What's up with that babe? You two were on okay terms after he visited you in the hospital."

"It's nothing we need to talk about."

"Babe." This babe meant "Tell me. Now."

"Later." I glanced around the station and Ranger nodded in understanding.

We picked up three more skips and then took the body receipts to Connie to get a check for.

Vinnie poked his head out of his office. "Ranger what the hell did you do to her? She's acting like an actual bounty hunter. Keep it up." And then he retreated back into his office and slammed the lock in place.

"So probably you won't want to do this, but we need to go pick out stuff for the new office/condo." Ranger actually looked like he was dreading it.

"Okay."

"Really?"

"Yeah, if I'm going to be living there I might as well get to design it. I want big closets. And a huge soaking tub that can fit two. And a room for Rex."

"Babe."

"Or just an alcove. A space of his own."

"Alright. We'll have them build Rex a little palace."

I hugged Ranger and we headed off to the kitchen, bath and everything else store. We met Ranger's contractor. Talked room sizes, picked out windows and doors, trim, paint, flooring, cabinets, fixtures, lights, and about a million other things. The guy who was helping put each choice into a computer so we could see the final product of each room.

"So, what do you want to do now?"

"Quiet night? I'm tired and my face hurts. A lot."

"You got it babe." Ranger drove us home and steered me to the backyard when we got there. He went to the kitchen and came back with a tray holding some steaks and potatoes. He put the steaks on the grill along with the potatoes and told me to make myself comfortable.

I walked over to the pool and dipped my toe in. It was heated. I stripped down and slid in the water. The pool lights were off and I knew I couldn't be seen. Ranger walked back outside with two glasses of wine. He looked around semi-frantically and set down the wine. "Stephanie?"

"Yeah?" He zeroed in on the pool and sauntered over. He crouched down at the edge.

"Babe."

"Want to come swimming?"

"Not right now."

"Too bad." I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the water. He surfaced and his eyes were dark.

"I used to scare you. I used to be scary." He grabbed me around the waist and pulled me towards him.

"Oh you are a scary scary man."

"Mmm. I can tell. You're positively quaking in your boots."

"I'm not wearing boots."

"Babe, you're not wearing anything." He grinned and ran a hand down my body and slid it in-between my legs.

I moaned and took in a deep breath. "Do you smell smoke?" Ranger's head whipped back to the grill and he pulled himself over the side of the pool. Christ. That was sexy. I loved when Ranger put his muscles to use.

He had taken the steaks off the grill and I climbed out of the pool via the steps. I didn't think my muscles were up for dragging me out of the deep end.

I walked over to him and he turned to face me. "You know the cameras out here are monitored by RangeMan employees' right?" He asked.

I yelped and Ranger clicked a button on a remote that was on the table. "Relax they're off now." He stripped down and threw me in the pool. We were floating our backs and looking at the stars. "So are you going to tell me what happened with Joe?"

I stood up and waded over to the steps to sit down. "He came to the office and got me all riled up and mad. I was a little out of it and mentioned the whole killing people in Hawaii thing. He blew up and said some things that really upset me." I fiddled with my hair and avoided looking at him.

"What did he say?"

"He said he hoped you got killed…" I gulped down some air and Ranger started muttering in Spanish under his breath. He looked up at me.

"I'm sorry he hurt you Steph. Morelli is a good guy in general. He's just not very smart when it comes to you. He's right though Steph, I'm dangerous to be around. You need to think that over carefully. You need to realize that I'm on contract with the government for another two years at least. I'll have to leave and every time I do you'll be he wondering if I'm going to come home."

I nodded and kissed him, I was in this for good. "I'd be worrying either way Ranger. The only difference is now you'll come home to me."

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**Hope you enjoyed!!!**


	19. Oh My God

**Here's another chapter, and this one is a biggie! Enjoy!

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We swam until I was a prune. We got out of the pool and Ranger pulled on his pants. I knew there was no way my soaked jeans could be pulled up now. Ranger tugged his shirt on over my head. It fell to my thighs and covered me enough to get to Ranger's room.

We walked inside and up to his room. Ranger surprised me by calling for pizza. Ranger was the king of healthy eating; the only unhealthy food I ever saw him eat was pizza. I got dressed and we waited downstairs for the pizza. Ranger opened a Corona and passed it to me.

"Can I have a kitten?" I'd always wanted a kitten. Truthfully when I was living alone I thought a hamster was the extent of what I could care for. But I figured Ella would never let a kitten starve.

"A kitten?"

"We'll maybe two kittens. I wouldn't want a kitten that gets lonely. Plus a kitten will keep me company when you're off being Mr. Secret Agent Man." I was laying it on thick. I don't even know why. All the sudden I just felt the need to nurture and I thought a kitten would be better than asking for a baby. I didn't think Ranger was ready for a baby. Which was fine. I wasn't ready either. It's the reason I was on the pill.

OH. MY. GOD. My purse blew up. My pills were in my purse. I hadn't even…for…oh my god…I did mental math. I wasn't late, but I wasn't due yet either. Crap. I looked at Ranger, hoping his ESP was turned off. Maybe I was in luck. He hadn't feinted or had a heart attack.

I silently pushed my beer away and gave Ranger a fake smile that I hoped looked real. It was okay. Really. I mean, what are the chances I was pregnant? Not very good. Ranger and I had only had sex like…well okay we'd had a lot of sex. And it's true, Ranger probably had super sperm. But still.

I was so focused on my thoughts that I hadn't noticed Ranger standing in front of me. He lifted my face and kissed me. It was a slow sensual kiss, he played his tongue over my lip. I couldn't get into it and he stopped and gave me a look.

Ranger groaned, "What's wrong babe?"

"Nothing. Everything is fine. My face hurts a little."

"Steph, don't lie to me okay? If you don't want to tell me then just tell me that. But don't lie." The doorbell rang. Pizza!

"Okay. Sorry. I'm just out of sorts right now. And super hungry." He kissed my forehead and walked to the front door. I needed to go to the store tomorrow and get a pregnancy test. I needed to refill my birth control prescription.

Ranger walked back in with the pizzas and we ate. He grabbed me another beer but I asked for water. Just in case. We went upstairs and I decided to just forget the pregnancy thing for tonight. There was nothing I could do tonight.

We got upstairs and Ranger spun around and grabbed me, pulling me close and kissing me like there was no tomorrow. "I am going to make you scream so loud the neighbors will hear." He pulled my tank top over my head and started licking down my chest. I wasn't wearing a bra and he got right down to business, taking a nipple into his mouth and sucking hard. He dropped to his knees and pulled my sweats down. He draped my leg over his shoulder and started licking my thighs. His tongue lashed over slit and then centered on my clit, flicking it over and over until I was shaking so hard I couldn't stand upright any more.

He picked me up and carried me to the bed. His pants were gone he and crawled on top of me. He spread my legs wide and started to slide into me.

"WAIT! CONDOM!" The words flew out of my mouth without me thinking of the implications. Ranger froze.

"Why?"

"Uh. Because. Its good to be safe."

"Babe we haven't once used a condom. What changed?"

"Uh." I couldn't think of what to say. My mind went blank. Ranger stood up and walked over to my purse. He looked through it quickly. I thought about objecting but still couldn't make any words come out. Ranger set my purse down and walked to the bathroom. I heard him going through things. He came back into the bedroom and sat next to me.

"Stephanie where are your birth control pills?"

"They blew up."

"You didn't get more?"

"I sort of forget. Everything was just so hectic and my phone is supposed to remind me to take them but that got blown up to so I forgot completely."

Ranger nodded. "Do you have any reason to think you're pregnant?"

"No, nothing yet. I just remembered before dinner about the pills."

"Okay. Uh...Good night." Ranger got up and pulled on his sweat pants. He walked out of the room, flipping the light off as he went.

I couldn't blame him for being mad. I had fucked up big time. I sighed and turned onto my side. I couldn't sleep. I laid in the bed, trying to figure out what to do. If I was pregnant then I couldn't live with Ranger. He didn't want any more kids. Even if I wasn't pregnant he might not want me around anymore. I got up silently and walked to the guest room I had used before. I laid down but still couldn't sleep. I was watching the clock when the light snapped on. 3:32am.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" He didn't sound mad, he sounded confused.

"I thought I'd give you your space. You were mad."

"Steph I wasn't mad. I was surprised, worried, happy. I was a lot of things, but I wasn't mad. My life, hell our lives, don't really lend themselves to kids. I'm already a dad, and to tell you the truth I'm not a very good one. But I would love to get a second chance." He pulled out the little blue box with its little white ribbon. He pulled off the ribbon and opened the little blue box. He pulled out a ring box. And then he was on his knee. "Stephanie, I love you, and I know its fast but I want you to know that whether were having a baby now or not, I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want you to have my babies and I want to make you the happiest person in this world." He opened the box and I gasped. "Will you marry me babe?" It was a big sparkly diamond ring.

"I…I…I…" I couldn't talk so I just nodded yes and hoped he understood. Until he'd asked I hadn't wanted to get married again. And then he asked and suddenly I did.

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**So.....???**


	20. Jungle Gym

**Cassie: LOL! That is great! And I just happen to like cats. Lol. **

**Hope everyone enjoys this chapter!**

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I punched my pillow trying to get it to fluff up. It was strangely hard.

"Steph stop punching me." Oh. It was a Ranger, not a pillow. I opened my eyes slowly and looked at Ranger. He was smiling. Good he was still happy about last night. I looked down at my ring and smiled too. Pretty.

"Sorry. I thought you were a pillow."

"So what's the plan for today?"

"We could tell people..." I didn't know if he wanted to tell people yet. I did know though that if one person saw my ring it would be all over the Burg in less than 10 minutes.

"Your family first? Then we'll stop at the office? Then go to Newark?"

"Sounds good. I can be ready in 30 minutes."

Two hours later, after a shower, after shower sex, another shower, and getting dressed we were ready to go. No FTA's today so we took the Turbo.

No one was waiting at the door for us so we let ourselves in and found everyone eating breakfast. I was hold Ranger's hand and my Mom zeroed in on that fact in less than twenty seconds. And then she saw the ring.

"Ahh! Stephanie! You're getting married! Oh my baby girl! Oh would you like a summer wedding? It doesn't give us much time but of course you want a summer wedding! Or maybe fall! Or even winter!" My mom's enthusiasm was rivaled only by my father's horror at having Ranger as a son-in-law. My father stared at us with his jaw hanging to the floor. Ranger wasnt Italian and my father just didn't like you unless you were Italian.

"Oh my little girl isn't going to be a Plum anymore, Stephanie…What is your last name? What's your real first name?" My mother looked at Ranger in abject horror. She didn't know her son-in-laws name.

"Ricardo Carlos Manoso. My family calls me Carlos."

"Well that's a nice name. Where is your Grandmother? She'll be so excited." Grandma came downstairs right then. She was wearing shorts, a tank top, and some chucks. It was scary.

"Mom, Stephanie is getting married!"

"Well it's about time." Her eyes settled on Ranger and her grin widened. She liked Ranger. A lot. I thought it was best to leave before she tried to grab Ranger's butt.

"Well we have to go tell Ranger's parents and some other people. We'll talk about the wedding later. Bye, love you guys!" And I pulled Ranger out the door as fast as I could.

"That went well." Ranger seemed to be fine with my crazy family. Silently amused.

"You know this means family dinners for us at least once a week." I could tell he hadn't thought of that. He looked scared.

I hid my hand in my pocket as we walked into the bonds office. Connie and Lula were sitting and eating donuts. They both sucked in a breath when Ranger walked in.

"Hey guys." I took my hand out and reached for a donut. Lula grabbed it before I could even lay a finger on the donut. Both her and Connie had frozen in place.

Lula spoke in a low voice, "Should you really be wearing that in front of him? What if he decides to go kill Joe?" My confusion must have been evident because all the sudden Lula was looking from me to Ranger and back again and then understanding dawned on her face. "OH MY GOD! YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED TO RANGER?!"

Connie gasped and I nodded and then the three of us were jumping up and down and screaming. Vinnie stuck his head out of his office and looked at Ranger. "I thought you we're smart. Christ. Good luck." He retreated and slammed the lock into place.

Ranger looked a little dazed by Vinnie's comment and our screaming. We left the bonds office and Ranger angled into his Porsche.

"I have a question."

"Shoot."

"You were never this excited when you were engaged to Joe…"

"That's not a question," I said. Ranger gave me a look. "I wasn't this excited. Something about this just seems…right. Besides when I was engaged to Joe I still wanted you." Ranger gave me another look, but this one was a sex look. Ooh.

"I have another question."

"Que?"

"Why are you speaking Spanish?"

"I dunno. It popped out."

Ranger smirked, "Do you want to do a pregnancy test before we go to Newark?"

Erm. Uh. Hmm. Did I? I was a little scared to find out. I nodded to Ranger and he drove to the pharmacy. We got two tests just in case and drove back to Ranger's. Probably it was stupid to buy the tests in the Burg.

We got back to the house and I ran into Tank as I was walking in the door. I dropped the bag and the tests spilled out. I bent down to pick them up just as Tank did. He saw the tests and the ring at the same time. "Holy shit."

"Shh! Don't tell anyone."

"Does Ranger know? Where is Ranger? It is Ranger's baby right?"

"Yes, parking the car, and yes, if there is a baby."

"And you're getting married…to Ranger?"

"Yes!"

"Okay then." And all the sudden I was being hugged so hard I couldn't breathe.

"Tank put her down." I was sat down and Ranger was hugged by Tank too. Although Tank didn't squish Ranger. Ranger looked at Tank sternly. "You tell no one."

"Got it." Ranger grabbed my hand and we walked upstairs.

"I changed my mind. We should tell your parents first." Ranger raised an eyebrow but set the tests in the bathroom and we went back downstairs to drive to Newark.

"So why…?"

"Well this way we can honestly claim that we're not pregnant if they ask."

Ranger laughed but nodded. Okay so it barely made sense to me either but it felt better.

"I've never met your parents."

"They're going to love you. My Grandma Rose only speaks Spanish. She doesn't live with them but she's over there a lot. My sisters and their kids might be there. Probably my brother wont. "

Ranger's parents lived in a nice house in a nice suburb. Big lawn, big front porch. Four kids came rushing out when Ranger's car pulled up to the curb. The driveway was full of cars.

The kids started climbing all over Ranger the second he was out of the car. My mouth fell open. I'd never really seen Ranger around children. He was laughing and letting them use him as a jungle gym. Wow.

I stepped out of the car and all four kids whipped their heads around to stare at me. "Who's that?"

"This is Stephanie."

"Is she your _girlfriend_?" The little boy said girlfriend like it was a dirty word.

"Yeah, where is grandma?"

"Inside. With mom and Auntie Celia. Bryan got his girlfriend in trouble." Rangers face went blank and he looked at the kid. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure. But mom and dad are super mad. He came home from college last night and they made me leave the room."

"Ah," was all Ranger could say. He took my hand and started leading me inside. I felt a tug on my pant leg. I looked down. The littlest one, a girl was smiling at me.

"Will you carry me?" I smiled and picked her up. She was cute as a button. She was probably three or four. She scared me a little.

We walked in and the room fell silent. Everyone was looking from Ranger to me and then back to Ranger again. The woman I assumed was his mother stood up and walked towards us. "Hello Carlos. What a nice surprise. And can I assume this is Stephanie?" She enveloped us both in a big hug and then took the little girl and sat her on the floor.

I was introduced to Ranger's sisters, there didn't seem to be any men around.

"Well what brings you two out here? Not that we're not very glad to meet you Stephanie, its just a surprise."

"We're getting married." He held up my hand so his mom and sisters could see the ring and everyone froze for a second. And then all hell broke loose. I was suddenly being hugged by three very excited women while Ranger watched with an amused expression.

"So what's this about Bryan and his girlfriend?" Ranger asked after the hugs had died down. His sister Tina got an instant look of anger.

"He got her pregnant! Can you believe that?"

"If he looks anything like Ranger I can." The words slipped out and everyone looked at me. I clapped my hand over my mouth. I could feel Ranger laughing silently behind me.

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**So do we want a batbaby??? Review and let me know. I can't post the next chapter until I have lots of opinions!**


	21. Baby Making

**This chapter is for all my new friends RangeMan Writers! **

**I love you guys!**

**Please review.

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An awkward second passed and then everyone started laughing. I was glad that I hadn't just stuck my huge foot in my mouth. Everyone started talking at once and it turns out that no one was really angry about Bryan's girlfriend being pregnant. They were angry because it had happened almost nine months ago. Yup Bryan had brought his pregnant girlfriend home when she was about to pop. Apparently the family was mad about missing the experience.

We played with the kids and then the men came back. I met Ranger's brother-in-laws and his father. Everyone was very happy for us. We decided to leave just after lunch. The drive back to Ranger's was nice we chatted about his family.

We didn't see anyone as we made our way up to his room. I walked in and sat down on the bed. "You wanna play Wii?"

"I don't have a Wii."

"Can we go get one? Please?"

"Steph you're avoiding the pregnancy test."

I sighed, "I know."

"Babe."

"Alright, alright!" I walked into the bathroom and shut the door. The instructions were easy enough. I peed on both sticks at once. Figuring what the hell. I capped them set them on the counter and washed my hands. I opened the door and went to sit by Ranger. He was on his laptop.

"Watcha doin?"

"Trying to figure out where we can get a Wii." He sighed and called Tank, "Hey can you go to GameStop and get a Wii with all the fixings? Thanks."

I looked at the clock. My three minutes were up. I handed Ranger one test, still upside down and took the other. "On the count of three. 1..2..3.." We both flipped the tests.

I thought I'd be a lot happier to be not pregnant. And I wasn't that I was overwhelmingly disappointed, but now I knew for sure that I did want kids. Soon even. Ranger gave me a big hug.

"We can keep trying," Ranger said and kissed my forehead.

I pulled back to look at him, "Wait you want to actually try to have a baby?"

"Well I'd like to be married when we have a baby, but I'm proposing that we don't try not to get pregnant. Let nature do its thing. If you're okay with that?"

"Yeah. I'm good with that." Ranger kissed me long and hard. There was a knock and I groaned, making Ranger laugh.

"Come in."

Ella stuck her head in asked what we wanted for dinner. Before Ranger could answer she spotted the pregnancy tests lying on the bed. "Are you two having a baby?"

"Nope. We are getting married though," Ranger answered.

"OH! Congratulations!" Ella gave both of us a big hug. "I'm just so happy for you two." She looked at me, "Maybe our wild Carlos will settle down now hmm?"

"Oh I dunno. I kinda love him the way he is." I smirked at Ranger.

"Mmmhmm. Well I'll get dinner started. You two have some fun."

Ranger started kissing me again. I pushed him back onto the bed and crawled on top of him. "Mmm, I like when you take charge." Ranger hands went to the buttons on my jeans. He had the first button undone when my phone rang. He hung his head in defeat for a second before and then grabbed it and answered for me.

"Hello. Hi Mrs. Plum. Um no. Sorry. I'll try. Yes ma'am. Goodnight."

"What did my mom want?"

"She wanted to know if you're pregnant. She told me to keep you from blowing up long enough to give her more grandchildren, and then she said we needed to come over tomorrow to start wedding planning."

"Okay. Now kiss me some more." Ranged complied and managed to tug off my pants before the next interruption. This time it was his phone.

"You've got to be kidding me." He grabbed his phone and flipped it open. "Yeah? Fuck. We'll be right there." I didn't hear Ranger swear a lot and it made me giving him a questioning glance.

"One of the buildings I monitor got hit. I need to go check it. You can stay here if you want."

"No I'll come with." I put my jeans back on and we trudged downstairs. We told Ella to just put dinner in fridge; we'd warm it up when we got done. The building that got hit was in Trenton. I spent a good amount of the drive squirming in my seat.

Ranger looked at me, "Steph what's going on?"

"My underwear is all wet and stuck to me." I decided that honesty was the best policy. Ranger gave me a look that set said panties on fire.

"Cripes." We pulled in to a lot and I sighed. Hal and Cal were already there and Ranger talked to them for a few minutes. We went on a quick inspection and then Hal and Cal drove off and Ranger and I were alone. He walked around a little more, making notes as he went.

He led me out to the parking lot. It was dark and empty and if I hadn't been with Ranger I would have been completely freaked out. As it was I had a plan. We got to the car and I sat on the hood. Ranger walked over to me and stood in-between my knees and kissed me.

"Come on, lets go home."

"Mmm, nope, It'll take too long." I yanked on his shirt and got it over his head.

"Babe!" I grinned and unbuttoned my pants. Ranger shook his head and pulled them off of me.

My shirt and Ranger's pants joined the pile of clothes next to the car. He ripped my panties off of me and pulled my ass to the very edge of the car. Suddenly he was inside of me. He was sliding in and out of me and I was digging my nails into his back.

"Harder Ranger." I moaned into his shoulder. He flipped me over so I was bent over the hood of car and pushed himself back into me. He stopped being gentle and started pounding into me so that I was pushed against the hood of the car so hard that hit hurt. I clawed my hands at the hood of the car. Ranger gave one huge thrust that rubbed my g-spot just once and I was coming. Ranger bit my shoulder as he shuddered and came inside me. I collapsed against the car and he sat on the hood next to me.

"Never done that before." I stood up and looked at Ranger, "Do you have any napkins?"

"Uh no…" I looked down at my thighs and shrugged. I pulled my pants back on and then my shirt. Ranger did the same and we got into the car, both of us still breathing hard.

We looked at each other and grinned.

"I think we're going to need to practice this baby making thing a lot."

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**Shortish. Just need to give the results and have a little smut. More to come!**


	22. The Giant Chicken Bucket Incident

**Hey All! New chapter! YAY! Let me know what you think!**

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My mother bombarded us with the questions the moment we walked in the door. "Where do you want to get married? When? How many people? What kind of dress do you want? What kind of cake? Who will be in the wedding party? What type of reception do you want? What type of flowers?" On and on and on the list went.

I looked at Ranger. "Uh, Ranger? Where do you want to get married?" I was hoping he would say Wayne Manor. It would make things a lot easier. And his house was kick ass and beautiful.

Ranger looked at my mom and then me, "How about our house?" Oooh _our_ house! I liked the sound of that.

My mom didn't look convinced but I told her how beautiful it was and she finally agreed. Ranger had a huge backyard. We decided on September. I wanted simple and elegant. Lula and Valerie would be my bridesmaids. Ranger would have Tank and his brother as his groomsmen. Mary-Alice and Angie, plus Rangers three younger nieces would all be flower girls.

My mom had at least a thousand bridal magazines and we combed through them, putting sticky notes on things I liked. Ranger bonded with my dad, watching baseball and telling war stories.

We left before dinner, Ranger had arranged for the Merry Men to meet us at a bar so we could tell them the news. Grandma decided to tag along and I couldn't very well say no. The bar was filled to capacity with huge hunky men in all black. The other people in the bar who weren't Ranger's men looked scared to death. We walked in and Grandma ordered a Cosmo, just like on Sex and the City, she told me.

Ranger gave a short whistle and everyone instantly fell silent. Neat trick.

"Hey guys! Stephanie and I have some news. We're getting married in September." There was a lot of hooting and hollering and hugs from the guys. I was introduced to a few of the newer men that I'd never met.

I checked on grandma half an hour later and she was completely shnockered. Ranger and I got her to the car and drove her home. My mom just shook her head and directed Ranger to put her upstairs.

"Sorry, I only left her along for like twenty minutes."

I grabbed Rangers keys from him and he cocked an eyebrow at me but slid into the passenger seat without comment. Ranger had been quiet all day, a little withdrawn. I was going to find out what was wrong. I got on the freeway and punched it to 80mph.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"**I love you. I don't know what's going on but maybe I can help. Would you like me to kill someone for you?"** I asked in a sweet voice.

Ranger grinned at me. "Babe, everything is fine, great actually. I just can't believe that it's finally happening. Steph I've wanted you for so long, you have no idea. You were always with Joe though, and I wanted you to do what would make you happy, not what I wanted."

"Hmmm. I want you. And just think, I haven't rolled in garbage or wrecked a car in weeks!"

"That's true, and I'm very proud of you."

I gave Ranger my best Ranger look and he chuckled. I pulled into Cluck in a Bucket and parked next to the giant bucket of chicken. Ranger sighed but came inside with me. I ordered chicken strips and Ranger got a grilled chicken salad.

We sat down by the window to wait for our food. I was people watching when a car going way too fast jumped the curb and hit the giant bucket of chicken. The chicken bucket fell over and squished Ranger's Porsche.

I figured I must have been imagining it. I looked at Ranger in shock and from the look on Ranger's face I figured out that it had really happened.

"Babe."

Wow. I had spoken too soon I guess. I mean really thought I hadn't destroyed a car in over three weeks. What did Ranger want from me? I was overdue.

We went outside to wait for the police car to show up. The guy in the other car was completely wasted. I was surprised when Joe pulled up in his current POS cop car.

He walked over to us and looked at the car. "I'm sorry, I just couldn't not come look." He was laughing and I was giving him the death glare. Ranger looked slightly amused. Joe stopped laughing and gave me a grin. "I heard about the engagement. Congratulations. Cupcake, all I ever wanted was for you to be safe and happy. If Ranger makes you happy then, good. I'm beginning to think no one can keep you safe."

"Thanks Joe." I wasn't over what he had said to me, but at least he was making an effort. Ranger nodded at him and Joe got into his car and drove away.

Ranger's car was towed and Tank showed up to drive us home.

"What happened?"

"A huge bucket of chicken fell on it," I said.

Tank did a double take and a huge grin spread over his face. "You must have parked it."

I nodded and Tank grinned wider.

"Ranger how much money can we spend on the wedding?"

"Try to keep under a hundred."

"A hundred what?"

"Grand?" I choked on the shake I was drinking. Ranger hit me on the back a few times and I looked at him like he was crazy.

"A hundred thousand dollars? How much money do you have?" I'd always thought that Ranger might have a million dollars or so, but now I was thinking it was a lot more.

"About ten million liquid, 50 million or so in real-estate, not including the house, and another 50 million or so in stocks and bonds."

"Holy crap! Ranger!"

"What?"

"You're rich!"

"So?"

I didn't know what to say. I was a little intimidated. "Um...I don't know. It's just a lot to take in."

"I'm sure you'll get used to it. And just to make things clear, _we're _rich. What's mine is yours.

"Can I go shopping tomorrow?"

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**Goodness?**


	23. By Appointment Only

**Hi everyone. I know this a shorter chapter but I'll write more and post it tonight if I have at least 15 reviews. :)

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Ranger was already gone when I woke up the next morning. He'd left a note on his side of the bed.

**Babe**

**Had to go do some work. Try not to park next to any chicken buckets. Have fun today.**

**Love you.**

I showered and got dressed. I dialed Ranger as I was getting all of my stuff together.

"Babe."

"Hey where are you?"

"I'm talking to Lester right now. I'll be at the office in about 40 minutes?"

"Oooh me too. I thought I'd do some work today."

"You don't need to catch skips anymore if you don't want to."

"I need to do something."

"Alright. See you soon. Love you." And Ranger hung up. He'd never been good with waiting for the other person to respond.

My phone rang as soon as I put it in my pocket, I flipped it open as I walked downstairs.

"Yes?"

"When are we going dress shopping?"

"Lula?"

"Hell yes, do you have a lot bridesmaids calling you?"

"No. Um, I guess we could go today. It'll take about an hour to get to Saks in Manhattan."

"You need an appointment to get a dress there. And your mom and Grandma and sister will want to come."

"I'll be at the office in 40 minutes."

I dialed Ranger. "Babe?"

"I want to go to Saks for a wedding dress but I'd need an appointment and probably they won't have any for a long time…"

"I'll get you in."

"You can do that?"

"Babe."

"Right. Batman can do anything."

"Even embarrassing things like getting appointments for wedding gowns."

We hung up and I slid into a Mercedes AMG. It was a beautiful car and we could fit five people in it.

I made it to the office before Ranger which was surprising. I was talking to Connie and Lula when he walked in. I knew it was him because my doodah warmed up. He stood right behind me and wrapped his arms around me, kissing my neck.

"I got you an appointment for 3pm. Thanks only to the Centurion AMEX by the way."

"I've been meaning to ask you about that. What's with that card?"

"You have to spend at least a quarter million a year and pay fees but it obviously has its advantages. There is a concierge. "

"Mmm, thank you." I kissed him for a few minutes until I heard someone clearing their throat. Oh. Ranger chuckled and kissed me one more time.

"Get whatever dress you want. Make it sexy. I love you."

"Love you too."

Lula fanned herself, "Wow. That man is amazing. He gives you a credit card with no limit, gets you an appointment at the bridal place and I'm pretty sure he gave you a thrill with just a kiss." She air-quoted when she said thrill.

"Ranger can give me a thrill with just a look."

I called my mom and asked if they wanted to come wedding dress shopping with Lula and I. Of course they did.

We picked up my mom and grandma and Valerie. She was worried because her husband was watching the kids. I'd be worried if Albert Kloughn was watching my kids too.

We made the drive to Manhattan while discussing dress styles. My phone rang and I answered it when I saw it was Ranger.

"What's up?"

"I have some bad news."

"Yeah?"

"I called one of my superiors to get a guaranteed time off for the wedding. He said no can do for September. Apparently they were already preplanning something for me."

"Oh. Did they say when you can have off?"

"They said they could guarantee me all of June or all of January."

"I can't wait until January. I guess June."

"I'm sorry Steph."

"It's okay. I'll just need to get busy!"

"I love you."

"Love you too."

I told everyone in the car that the wedding had been moved up to June. It gave us six weeks.

"Are you sure you're not pregnant?"

"I'm sure. Ranger just can't guarantee he'll be in the country in September."

"Why not?"

"Ranger does work for the military."

"What kind of work?"

"I can't talk about it." I said and my mom sucked in a breath. She didn't like that at all.

Everyone was silent the rest of the drive. Probably contemplating what my fiancée did that earned him top secret status.

I found parking which was amazing and we went in and found the bridal salon. We checked in with a lady who seemed a bit snotty until she heard my name and looked at her notes. She was probably seeing the words "AMEX BLACK" or something.

Ms. Snooty led us to a private room with mirrors and then offered us drinks.

We waited for a minute or two and a sales person came to help. She asked what kind of dress I wanted. I told her I had no idea. We looked at several different styles and I tried a few one before narrowing down what type of dress I wanted. I wanted an empire waist sheath dress.

I tried on about fifty different dresses before the one. It was a dress by Carolina Herrera and it was beautiful in its simplicity.

It had a jewel belted empire waist and twisted straps. It was a creamy white silk that fell in soft lines from the empire waist. The back was longer, making a train that was long but not pretentious. I fell in love with it immediately. When the ladies pulled it on and buttoned the back everyone sucked in a breath and then went "ooooh". I had found the dress.

A simple jeweled headband would hold my veil in place.

I might have gone a little overboard on the shoes. They were Alexander McQueen and they made me drool. The three inch heals were covered in crystals that made them shimmer just a little and the rest of the shoe was all strappy sandal that wrapped up around my legs. The dress cost around $5,000 and the shoes cost about two fifths of that. Yowsers. I gave them the card hoping it would be okay with Ranger. I had to come back in a week for a fitting and to pick put bridesmaids dresses. Yippee.

I had put _our_ money to good use today.

We were walking out to the car when I heard the commotion. Fire trucks. Uh Oh. We walked out and I saw firemen putting out the flaming AMG. Crap. I'd just destroyed a very expensive Ranger car, without even knowing. At least the shoes wouldn't be such a big deal when compared to that.


	24. Lester is Down

**Here it is! Get me to 205 reviews and you get another chapter!! Love you guys!

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The five of us stood on the sidewalk staring at what was left of the AMG. Why would someone torch the AMG? Was it just random? That didn't seem likely, especially since I was involved. My mother crossed herself and looked like she could use a good stuff drink.

We talked to the police and gave our view of what had happened. I told them I didn't really know. We'd been shopping. After being interrogated Ranger angled to the curb in the Lamborghini. Two RangeMan SUVs pulled in behind him.

Ranger came over to stand next to me and shook his head. "Babe."

"I swear I had nothing to do with this…that I know of."

"Tank is taking everyone else home, you're coming with me."

"Where are we going?"

"Ella was nice enough to make us an appointment with a wedding planner."

"Did you ask her to do that?"

"No." Ranger gritted his teeth.

"She means well. Probably she knows I couldn't plan a wedding if my life depended on it." I wrapped my arms around Ranger's neck and kissed him. This I could do forever. I stopped when my mom cleared her throat.

"Would you look at those two together? It's a good thing her wedding dress isn't tight around the middle. I'm guessing she'll be knocked up long before the wedding." Grandma said. She'd been fairly quiet during this trip. I guess she'd been saving up so she could embarrass me.

"Well we can hope." This comment came from Ranger and everyone whipped their heads to look at him.

"Er…Ranger and I have to go now. Tank will take you home. Have a good night." I jumped in the Lamborghini and Ranger angled himself in.

"I can't believe you just said that in front of my mother."

Ranger grinned, "I couldn't resist."

I don't know what came over me but I smacked Ranger in the back of the head playfully. I froze and looked at him with wide eyes.

"Did you just smack me?"

"Nope."

"You're going to pay for that later."

"We could skip the wedding planner and I could pay for it now."

"Nope, you're starting training tonight that's your punishment." Ranger gave me a look that seemed to be halfway in between Superman the hero and Lex Luthor the villain.

"Wrong comic babe. And yeah, starting tonight we're getting you in shape. Sparring and shooting etc. You know I don't care if you want to keep bringing in FTA's but I want you to be able to do it safely…and without coming home smelling like garbage."

I didn't reply, maybe I could get out of training. "Do we really have to go to a wedding planner?"

"Would you rather plan it with your mom and grandma?"

Ranger made a good point. He made an excellent point. Maybe I could just let this wedding planner lady plan everything.

Ranger drove us a few blocks and parked in front of a small but fancy looking shop.

Two hours later I walked out of the shop dazed and confused. There was so much. I don't remember there being this much when I married Dickie. Of course we'd had a small wedding. This was shaping up to be a big wedding. I had tried to protest this while we were with the planner but Ranger seemed excited. It was so odd to see Ranger excited about something like this that I decided to just go with it.

I slid into the Lamborghini and watched Ranger get in. Even the way he got into the car was sensual and full of control.

I watched Ranger go into his zone.

"Ranger?"

"Si?"

"You want me to practice my Spanish? Adónde vamos?"

"Bueno. We're going home to get in some work."

"Work?"

"I'm going to teach you a little hand to hand." I gave him a blank look. "Babe, you got me pretty good earlier, I figure I better teach you a lesson."

I slouched down in my seat, pouting a little. Truthfully sparring with Ranger scared me a little. I knew he would never hurt me, but still, I was going to look like an idiot compared to him.

We got back to Ranger's and he led me to the batcave, once we were inside he went to a door I hadn't noticed before and opened it. We were in a gym. It was large and held every piece of workout equipment I could imagine plus a large clear area for sparring, although I could probably use it for Yoga.

"I'll get a flat screen and DVD player down here and some yoga mats."

"You're getting almost as good as Diesel at the ESP thing."

"I couldn't let him beat me. Speaking of Diesel, has he told you why he's here?"

"Nope. Wouldn't say. Maybe he's gone again. I haven't seen him since Maui."

"Maybe. Come on, locker room is through here. It's going to have to be coed from now on. Cubbies are out here, you can keep whatever you need. I had Ella set that one up for you already. We have showers, a spa and a sauna. Let's get changed." Ranger walked to a cubical and grabbed some gym clothes and I went to the one he had pointed out as mine. Ella had put several things in it and I grabbed some black shorts and pulled them on. They were really short. I added a black sports bra and black tank top. Black anklets and black cross trainers completed my ensemble. I turned to find Ranger dressed in long black mesh shorts and cross trainers. No shirt. Oh boy.

"What do you know about fighting hand to hand?"

"I know to go for the tender bits."

Ranger looked slightly scared by me. "Babe. Good thing I brought back up." We walked out to find Lester waiting on the sparring mats. "I sure hope you wore your cup man." Ranger took a seat on a bench to watch.

"Okay bombshell now a normal attacker is going to either come at you from behind and grab your arms or from the front and grab your arms." I laughed at his comment. "What?"

"My attackers are never normal." I said to Lester and he raised an eyebrow at me.

"Okay fine, show me how you're attackers usually attack you."

I ran at Lester, grabbed his hair and bit his arm. He was surprised and I wrestled him to the ground. "Well usually at this point you'd be rolling around in garbage or pizza or something if you were me, but you get the picture." I stood up and looked over at Ranger. He looked like he was trying very hard not to laugh. He stood, held up a finger to signal to wait a minute and then walked into the locker room. I could clearly hear his laughing through the wall.

Lester was still lying on the ground looking a little confused. I'd been like that the first few times it had happened to me too, now my reaction times were much quicker.


	25. Fight Club

**Short but sweet, please R&R. Let me know if you like it.

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**Ranger POV**

I thought I'd finally gotten to the point that Steph couldn't surprise me anymore. I don't know why I thought that. Steph was one surprise after another. When she dropped Lester, one of my best fighters, I had to leave the room.

I walked back out into the gym as calmly as I could. I put my blank look in place but a damn smile kept tugging at the corners of mouth. I never used to have trouble with the blank face, but Stephanie seemed to be blurring the lines between the hard-ass black ops commando Ranger and the other me. The other me was Ricardo Carlos Manoso. I'd slowly been working him into the Ranger that Steph knew. Truthfully those lines had always been blurred with Steph.

Stephanie complicated things; she was part of my business life and now a part of my personal life. I was having a hard time combining the two. I was very glad that I finally had a reason to combine them, that I finally was able to have Stephanie in my life the way I wanted her to be. I hadn't wanted to poach on Morelli and I was glad Steph had come to her own conclusions about him.

Lester was still looking dazed when I walked over to give him a hand up.

"How about you go recover from your encounter with the bombshell bounty hunter Santos." I shook my head as Lester walked off, looking like he couldn't believe what had just happened.

I stood in front of Steph and settled into a defensive stance. "Come on babe, do your worst."

Stephanie looked like she didn't know if I was serious or not. I nodded my head and motioned for her to attack me. It had been a while since I'd seen her fight. She jumped foreword with a stiff left uppercut to my jaw. I decided to let her get the hit in so that I could judge her strength. I realized my mistake right away, she hadn't taken off her ring. I felt it slice into the skin at my jaw, leaving a small cut that stung.

Steph froze in place but I motioned her foreword again. She took off her ring and sat it on the bench. She stepped toward me and took another swing. I blocked it easily. She kicked out and I moved out of the way. She attacked me again and again, missing at first but then getting better as we went along. She looked surprised when I started fighting back. I took a swing, putting minimal power behind it, at her shoulder. She flinched when it landed but blocked my next one.

We were dancing back and forth, swinging, blocking, kicking and jumping. Stephanie was breathing heavy and covered in sweat when I decided our sparring time was up. I dropped and kicked her legs out from under her. She went down on her back but managed to grab me and pull me on top of her.

I crushed my lips down on hers and ran my hands up under her shirt. I pulled myself off her of her just long enough to get the shirt and sports bra off. I pressed back against her moaning when I felt her nipples pebble against my chest. We were both slicks with sweat and our bodies slipped over each other in an erotic way.

Steph wrapped her legs around me and ground herself into me. I was hard and I pushed against her. She grabbed my shorts and pulled them down while I shimmied hers down her legs. I pressed myself up against her again, groaning as I met the resistance of the thin slip of cotton between her legs. I needed to be inside her now, I had no more patience. I grabbed her panties and yanked them aside and slammed into her in the same motion.

Her pussy was dripping wet and she took me in easily, moaning and jerking her hips against me as I buried myself in her warmth. Her legs were wrapped around me and she tilted her hips so I could fuck her harder. My ESP was working overtime and the dirty thoughts running through her head made me have to hold myself back. She dug her fingernails into my shoulders and scraped them down my back. I could feel blood pooling in the shallow scratches. It drove me crazy and I shoved my cock into her as hard as I possibly could. I reached between us and rubbed her clit hard and fast as I buried myself into her impossibly tight wet pussy. She threw her head back and jerked her hips. She was screaming as she came, her cunt tightening around me and then spasming as she rode the orgasm.

I let myself go, slamming into her a few more times as I came inside of her. I lay panting on top of her for several moments. "Christ Steph."

She giggled as I rolled off of her. Stephanie giggling was something I loved. So often when I used to see her she had just rolled in garbage or blown something up, it was nice to see her happy.

**Stephanie's POV**

Sparring with Ranger had turned me on. Watching the sweat glisten on his muscles as they bunched and tightened under his skin had tighten things low in my body. I tried to put off all the excess energy into fighting and I think it worked. I was getting better at blocking punches and throwing my own.

I looked over at Ranger now. He'd just fucked my senseless in the middle of the gym. I'd never be able to walk into this room without becoming instantly wet. I watched Ranger's body as he stood. He helped me up and we gathered our clothes and walked back to the showers. We threw the sweaty gym clothes into a laundry basket and I laughed when I realized all the items had our names stitched in the inside. I could see the guy's stuff being marked so Ella didn't accidently give Ranger, Ram's pants, but my sports bra? Maybe Tank had fetish I didn't know about.

There was a long shelf of cubbies filled with different shower stuff. I saw one that was obviously Ranger's, it had his Bulgari shower gel in it. His cubby also held my favorite kind of shampoo and conditioner and it sent a jolt to my heart to realize we shared this space too.

I was slowly getting used to this side of Ranger. The old Ranger was still there but he was showing me more of himself and bringing me into his life. Ranger had always been in my life, but now he was opening up to me.

My cell phone rang as we walked back to the open lockers. I flipped it open and pressed it to my ear.

"Stephanie you and Carlos are coming over for dinner tomorrow right?" It was my mother. Crap. I should have looked at the caller ID.

"Uh…gee I don't know mom…"

"Pot Roast, mashed potatoes, gravy." I was tempted. I loved pot roast. I loved mashed potatoes. I loved gravy. Then she started playing hardball. "I got a new recipe. Chocolate pineapple upside-down cake."

"Okay, see you at six."

I hung up and Ranger shook his head. "You should have seen the look on your face when she mentioned the cake. I wish you looked at me like that."

"I do look at you like that." I said and stuck my tongue out. "Wanna watch a movie before bed?"

"Sure but we're getting up at six to train." I groaned and Ranger wrapped an arm around me as we walked upstairs.

"Babe you did well tonight, great in fact and I want to keep it up. How about we stay together tomorrow. We can go check on the new Trenton building. Maybe go to the mall."

"You're playing hardball now too."

Ranger grinned, "I do everything hard babe."

Fuck. I knew that better than anyone, I thought as we walked back to our room. I grinned at Ranger as he laughed. Gotta love that ESP.


	26. Someone's in Trouble

**Heylo! Tried to get this out last night but it just didnt happen. Sorry! :) Enjoy it, R&R. Getting me up to 235 reviews gets you another chapter. :)

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Ranger kept good on his promise. I woke up at six already in the shower. I opened one eye as the water cascaded down my head.

"What? What happened?"

"Seemed like a good way to wake you up. There's coffee when you're done."

I gave Ranger my best scary Ranger face. It didn't seem to make much of an impact. He was already dressed and leaning against the vanity counter. His shirt was painted on and his cargos were tight. I didn't think we were working out first thing. I was guessing target practice.

I kept my shower short, if I had to be up this early I was at least getting something done. I put some gunk in my hair and blow dried to its full sexy potential and went heavy on the mascara. I pulled on skinny jeans that looked like they were painted on, caramel brown knee high stiletto boots and dark brown tank top. I added my gun and a caramel brown leather jacket.

Ranger watched me intently and raised an eyebrow at the outfit. I shrugged. I felt like wearing something sexy. I felt like a kick ass bounty hunter today. We went down to the batcave and Ranger pushed a button on the wall. Viola secret elevator door. We rode down to a level below ground and we were in a good size shooting range. Ranger got us set up with goggles and headphones.

Ranger handed me an unfamiliar gun. It was bigger than most pistols I'd used. I looked at Ranger and tried to cock my eyebrow.

"It's a machine pistol. You don't have to use individual trigger pulls, point, shoot, kill. We've got a lot of RangeMan employees carrying them now. I'm not expecting you to carry one normally, but I want you trained for emergency situations."

"God it's sexy when you talk about guns."

Ranger smirked at me and showed me how to use the gun. I pointed, I shot, I killed the target person. Easy. I was on my fourth cartridge when something hit my shoulder. I jumped and turn, still holding down the trigger. Bullets were ricocheting everywhere and in one motion Ranger knocked the gun out of my hand and threw himself on top of me. It all took maybe two seconds. When Ranger stood up he had a scary look on his face.

It wasn't directed at me. It was directed at Lester, who had shot the rubber band at me.

Ranger spoke in a low voice. "Santos. You are off duty effective immediately. Be in my office tomorrow morning 0600." He grabbed my arm and marched me to the elevator. We shucked our goggles and earphones in the elevator. Ranger marched me out of the house and pointed to a black car I'd never been in. He hit a button and the doors opened suicide style. I slide in and Ranger gunned it. He was down the long drive before I'd even gotten my seatbelt on. Apparently Ranger needed to speed.

"Ranger…" He glanced at me and I wasn't sure if I should keep talking. "Please don't kill Lester."

"I'm not going to kill him."

"Okay good."

Ranger's mad face slowly deteriorated and was replaced by his zen face. He drove to the office to see if there were any skips for us. No one was at the office when we got there. Ranger let us in and we perused the inbox. I had a few files and Ranger had one high bond.

"You wanna check out the new building or go shopping first?" Ranger asked.

"Can we get some food? I'm starving."

Ranger pulled into McDonalds and ordered me a Sausage Egg McMuffin with Cheese. I scarfed it down and looked at Ranger. He cringed but ordered me another. Ranger's body was a temple, mine was a landfill.

"Babe." He gave me a sexy smirk that set my panties on fire. "You're not wearing panties babe."

"Yes I am!"

"No you're not." I looked down the front of my jeans.

"Where did my underwear go?"

"You never put any on babe." Well, I had been pretty tired. It was possible that I had forgotten.

Ranger drove toward Harrington Avenue which is where the new Rangeman building is. It looked pretty much the same on the outside with addition of a bunch of construction trucks. The construction foreman approached us as we walk toward the building. We got hard hats. I did not look good in the hard hat.

I was surprised when we walked in the lobby. It looked finished. There was a reception desk and an elevator. It was very modern but didn't give any hint of what the building housed. The elevator only went up one floor, which housed some of the offices. It was the public part of the building. We went into the private part of the building. The security wasn't in yet but I was given a basic tour. The rooms were planned and the walls up.

I asked when it would be done and was surprised to find that they would be ready to go within a week, and then it was decorating time. We could be moved in two weeks.

We left Harrington and Ranger made good on his promise to take me to the mall. Despite the fact that Ranger told me to get anything I wanted, I still felt bad so I kept my purchases down to a few must haves. Some shoes, a few purses, some jeans and tank tops. Oh and a Cinnabon.

Ranger got some jeans and a casual button up shirt ala Abercrombie and stopped in the rest room to change. I eyed him suspiciously.

"Family dinner. I don't need to dress commando style for that. Although with your family…"

I smiled. He looked fucking hot.

It was closing in on time to appear for dinner and so we walked back out to Ranger's speed racer mobile and he loaded my bags into the tiny trunk.

Ranger glanced at me, "Could you do my favor?"

"Sure?"

"Don't dress like that anymore. I had to repeatedly stop myself from throttling leering men. And women." Ranger's voice held a smile but I could also tell he'd been annoyed.

I giggled but didn't agree. Ranger sighed. We pulled up to the house and I grimaced, Valerie's minivan was here. The whole family. Yay.

Ranger and I trouped up the driveway and braced for impact. Mary Alice was galloping, Angie was screaming at my dad that she didn't want to watch baseball, my dad was studiously ignoring her and everything else, the baby was crawling around and screaming, Valerie looked like she might pop any second, Kloughn was sitting at the dining room table ready to go, Grandma Mazur was reading Cosmo and my mom was setting the table.

Ranger scooped up Lisa and started making funny faces at her and she stopped crying and giggled. Mary Alice stopped galloping, Angie stopped yelling, my dad dropped the remote, Valeries eyes bugged out, Kloughn looked relived, Grandma stopped looking at this month's nearly naked guy, and mom dropped the spoon she had been holding.

"What did I do?" Ranger asked me in a low voice. He had Lisa on his hip. Ranger with a baby on his hip and dressed in jeans didn't look like Ranger. He suddenly looked like Carlos to me. Huh.

"I don't think they've ever seen you dressed is something other than black. Or holding a baby."

"Ah." He smiled at everyone. "Hi everyone." He looked at Valerie and then to me. "When is she due?"

Valerie responded, "Two effing weeks ago. If I don't get this baby out of me I'm going have to do something drastic."

I looked around at my family and sighed. I whispered to Ranger, "You're gone is secure right?"

"Yeah is yours?" I nodded.


	27. Burnin Down the House

**New Chapter! Fires! A baby? Diesel! Enjoy!

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We sat crowed around the dinner table. My dad was at the head of the table with grandma to his left, then Ranger, then me and then Angie. To his right were Kloughn, Mary Alice, Lisa and then Valerie. My mom on the other end of the table.

Dad was carving the pot roast and Mary Alice was neighing.

"Hey Mister. Are you marrying Auntie Stephanie?" Angie asked Ranger.

"I sure am."

"What do you do?" She asked next. Ranger looked at me and I shrugged.

"I'm own a company and I'm a bounty hunter like Stephanie."

"You're hot." We all looked at Angie. My dad dropped his fork but all the women looked Ranger over. No one disagreed with Angie. Ranger sat silently and studied his roast, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. We all started eating again. Eventually Mary Alice decided she wanted to ask questions too.

"Are you having a baby?" I knew the baby question would come up again, but I hadn't thought Mary Alice would ask.

I took this one, "No Mary Alice." She nodded and ate a green bean.

Ranger all the sudden jumped and when his knee hit the table the candle fell over and the table cloth went up in flames. Mom screamed and tossed her iced tea at it, which only made it flame up more. That wasn't iced tea I was guessing. Everyone was screaming and moving back from the table. I looked around, my dad was missing. He came striding in with a fire extinguisher and put out the fire. I looked sadly at my plate, all the food was ruined.

We all stood around staring at the food. Ranger was the first to speak, "How about I take you all out to dinner?"

Everyone agreed and gathered to get their coats. The McLaren only held two people so Ranger, grandma and I rode with my mom and dad. Ranger insisted I sit in the middle seat. I think he was scared of grandma. I'm pretty sure he had jumped because grandma had copped a feel.

Ranger instructed dad to go to Rossini's. The maître de looked a little scared when we all walked in but when he saw Ranger he procured a table large enough for all of this. Dinner went fairly smoothly. We were eating dessert when Mary Alice flicked a spoonful of ice cream at grandma. Grandma lobbed a roll at Mary Alice and knocked over another candle. For the second time that night a tablecloth went up in flames.

We all stood around in shock as the restaurant erupted into chaos. People we're exiting the building and fire alarms were going off. Ranger grabbed a pitcher of water from a waiter who was as in shock as we were. He dumped it and almost had the fire out when a terrified waiter poured the bottle of wine he was holding on it. Whoosh the flames shot higher. A spark jumped and caught the table next to us on fire. Ranger was ushering us outside suddenly. Ranger dashed back inside to make sure everyone was out. Angie tugged on my shirt and I looked down at her.

"Is mommy really scared?"

"No sweetie, why?"

"Because adults are only supposed to pee their pants when they're scared." My head snapped up and I looked at Valerie. She was looking down at the ground with a huge smile on her face. The baby was finally ready to come out.

Everything moved very quickly after that. Dad made Valerie sit down, Ranger came out and we told him Val was in labor. We were about to load her into the car when an ambulance came pulling up.

Kloughn went with Val in the ambulance so Ranger drove the minivan while I reassured the girls. We pulled up to the hospital right behind the ambulance and Ranger, as always, found an amazing parking spot. We followed Val and the EMTs inside and I was helping her with paperwork as mom, dad and grandma showed up.

Val had an initial exam and the doctor told us it would likely be morning before Val was even ready to push. Her water had broken but she wasn't really having contractions yet and she wasn't dilated. Valerie wanted the kids to get some sleep and Ranger volunteered for them to come stay with us for night. We would bring them back in the morning, or before that, if there was any news.

I was a little weary of having the kids with us but Ranger seemed to be fine with it. We stopped out Val's house and packed bags for everyone. Ranger had called Tank to come pick us up in an SUV but hadn't told him what was up.

Tank knocked on the door right as Mary Alice fell mid-gallop. Ranger was busy trying to get Angie to find her toothbrush so I shoved Lisa into Tank's arms and went to comfort the horse. When I turned back around Tank was holding Lisa like I'd just handed him a live grenade. Ranger walked in with Angie on his back and grinned when he saw Tank. Tank was driving a new hybrid Cadillac Escalade. I gave Ranger a look.

"Their new, figured we'd go green. The new building is very earth friendly." Hmm. Batman, saving the world, one pimped out ride at a time.

We loaded everyone in and Tank drove us back to the batcave and then shuffled himself home after helping us unload all the kid paraphernalia from the SUV. Ranger set up the Pack N Play crib for Lisa while I got the girls into their bathing suits. We were going swimming before bed. Ella came upstairs to see what all the fuss was and fawned over the girls. She looked at Ranger and me and smiled.

"Soon we shall have more pequeños niños running around." She gave my stomach a glance and I gave a panicked look to Ranger who just smiled. We trouped downstairs and walked outside.

Diesel was chilling in his pool chair, already in a suit.

"Steph! I leave you alone for a few weeks and I come home to find you engaged and with three kids? You're breaking my heart gorgeous."

I gave Diesel a hug and he and Ranger shook hands. They seemed to be on good terms now.

"Home huh? You putting down roots?"

"Yeah. I just got a fairly permanent assignment here." He splashed the girls who were giggling and swimming around like little fish.

"And that would be?"

"You."

I sputtered, "Me? Why would I be your assignment? I'm not unmentionable."

"You might be a little unmentionable. But really I'm here to look after you and guard the next generation."

"The next generation?"

"Just doing what I'm told to sugar."

I looked at Ranger and then down at my stomach again. Huh. Did this mean I was pregnant? Or that I would be soon? Ranger was grinning again.

"I don't know babe." He looked at Diesel.

"I don't know either. You're energy does feel a little strange Steph. Different." He put a hand on my bare stomach and his eyes widened a little bit.

"Huh. Maybe you should take a pregnancy test Steph." I looked at Ranger again, wide eyes. He still had the grin on his face. Maybe he really did want a baby.

We splashed around the pool for a bit before getting the girls out. I helped them with their baths and got everyone into their pajamas. We got Mary Alice and Angie settled into the guest room next door and I rocked Lisa to sleep and put her into her crib. I switched on the baby monitor, undressed and crawled into bed next to a very naked Ranger. He pressed himself against my naked back.

His erection was pressed against my ass and I turned towards him, pressing my body up against him. I lifted my leg and let it rest over his hip. His huge cock was pressed firmly against my hot opening. I tried to push myself against him but he held my hips steady. He very slowly started sliding himself inside me. His tongue was on mine and I was letting out low quiet moans into his mouth. He was fucking me agonizingly slow, pulling all the way out before re-sheathing himself up to the hilt. I could feel my juices running down my leg. I was so wet and I knew I must feel hot around him.

We moved like that for what seemed like hours but might only have been minutes. Finally he took my hand pressed it to my clit. He used his hand to control my motions until I was coming, shuddering around him. He let out one groan and spilled himself inside of me. I fell asleep with Ranger still inside of me.

It was almost six when we got the call to come back to the hospital. Val was almost ready to push.


	28. A Little Kiltner Everywhere

**Okay, it took an extra day but it's a bit longer so yay! As always, let me know what you think.

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We woke everyone up, including Diesel who had slept in a guest room and Ranger loaded us one sleepy person at a time into another Hybrid Escalade. We drove through a Starbucks and got coffee for the adults and hot chocolate for Mary Alice and Angie. I gave Lisa her bottle of juice.

Everyone perked up considerably with the additions of caffeine and sugar to their blood streams. We pulled into the hospital lot and Ranger got another primo parking spot. That had to be an unmentionable thing. I thought about the possible baby and Diesel's comments. He made it seem like I might have some unmentionable powers and he certainly inferred that the baby would have unmentionable powers.

I sighed as we reached the maternity ward, would I be here in eight or nine months? Ranger wrapped an arm around me, carrying Lisa on his hip. I had Mary Alice's hand and Diesel had Angie's. We were directed to the waiting room, Valerie was already pushing. My mom, dad and Grandma were in the waiting room. I laid my head on Rangers shoulder and fell asleep.

"Bebé? Wake up babe. You're an auntie again." My eyes fluttered open and I groaned. I was lying on my back with my head in Rangers lap. My feet were hanging over the end of the couch we were on. I sat up and followed everyone back to Val's room. She was holding a little girl. We were introduced to Jillian, who was born weighing 8 pounds six ounces. No wonder Val had been so big.

I followed Dr. Jacobson out into the hall. She was my doctor too.

"I uh, think I might be pregnant. I took two tests and they were both negative, but I'm late, and my period before that was just a little spotting…"

"What pregnancy test did you use?" She asked. I told her and she sighed. "They just had a huge recall on that brand. They were testing negative no matter what. Can you come up to my office now?"

"Yes, let me get my fiancée." I peeked my head into the room and motioned for Ranger. He walked out and I introduced him to Dr. Jacobson. "Dr. Jacobson this is my fiancée, Carlos Manoso, Ranger this is Dr. Jacobson, we're going to go up to her office with her."

Dr. Jacobson explained to us about the pregnancy test recalls while we were in the elevator. We reached her office and she handed us over to a nurse to do the preliminary work, she'd come back in when the test results were back.

I was pacing around the room while Ranger sat with his arms crossed watching me with a big smile.

"Babe." I looked over at Ranger and smiled. His hair was getting to the length where he needed to decide to cut it or let it grow out. "I need to get it cut, you like it short." I raised an eyebrow, he was right but personally I thought Ranger looked sexy no matter what his hair looked like. I let my eyes travel down his body slowly. "Babe."

There was a knock and the Dr. Jacobson came in with my file.

"Congratulations you two, you're going to be parents!" I was in Ranger's arms and being swung around within seconds. He laid a kiss on my lips which deepened until Dr. Jacobson cleared her throat.

"I'm calculating you to be at about 5 weeks along; you were pregnant when you took those tests." I calculated back. I'd gotten pregnant in Maui. "We're going to make you an appointment for three weeks from now to get your first ultrasound and all of that good stuff. I'm sending you home with some prenatal vitamins today." She gave me a quick rundown of do's and don'ts and gave me my prenatal vitamins. The whole visit was only about 20 minutes. Even so, my mom was looking for me when we got off the elevator. She saw the box of vitamins and was suddenly yelling and hugging me.

"Thank god! Maybe you'll stop blowing stuff up now." She told me as she hugged Ranger. "Thank you Carlos. I am sure you keep her from blowing herself up a good amount of the time."

"I love your daughter Ms. Plum. And I love our little Niña or Niño." He had his hand pressed to my stomach as we walked into the hospital room. We made the announcement and we were both given hugs from everyone. Diesel was wearing an "I knew it" grin.

We finally extracted ourselves from the room and made our way to the parking lot. Diesel had walked with us to the doors and then said he'd catch us later. The girls were going home with my mom, dad and grandma tonight.

"I'm having a baby." I said when I was in the car. Ranger chuckled.

"_We're_ having a baby babe."

I giggled, "Can I tell Lula and Connie? They'll be pissed if they hear it somewhere else first."

"Yeah and then I guess we'd better go tell my family too."

I called Lula first. "Hey Stephanie, you need something? I got my man over here."

"Uh yeah just a second." I put her on hold real quick. "Tank is there?"

"Tell her. It's fine." Ranger replied as he merged onto the freeway.

I went back to Lula, "Well sorry to bug you but I had an exciting night last night. We accidently caught my parent's dining room table on fire and then we burned down Rossini's and then Val went into labor and this morning she had a baby girl and the I found out I'm pregnant."

"I already kne-YOU'RE PREGNANT?!" I heard Lula jumping up and down and she was screaming to Tank. I told Lula what I knew, which wasn't much and hung up to call Connie, but she didn't answer.

I plugged my iPod into the dock and started surfing through songs. Livin' La Vida Loca came on and I giggled. Ranger had always reminded me of a rough and tumble Ricky Martin.

"Babe. I'm going to take that as a compliment, only because I can tell you think it is one."

I nodded and started singing along. I was happy. I was getting married, having a baby and life in general was going pretty good.

We arrived at Ranger's parents a little before noon. There was no one there besides his mother and father. His mother and father were both ecstatic. Ranger and his father went off to talk and I was left alone with his mother.

"Stephanie we are so very happy for you and Carlos. You have changed him so much. I'll never forget the first time he came over for dinner after meeting you. You were all he could talk about. We've been trying to make him tell you his feelings for years."

"I love Ranger very much, and he told me loved me a long time ago, but he always said he didn't want to get married or anything. I'm not sure what changed his mind."

"You did mi hija." She smiled at me and we chatted until Ranger and his dad walked back in. We left, promising to come to family dinner tomorrow.

"I have some skips I need to pick up." I told Ranger when he asked me what I wanted to do.

"Babe." Ranger sighed, "I don't want to be like Morelli and tell you what to do, but you are pregnant, I want you to think about that. Getting shot, stun gunned, tasered, falling, all of these could seriously affect the baby."

I nodded. He was right. I knew he was right, and yet I couldn't stop myself from wanting to work. I wasn't a put my feet up and do nothing type of person. Ranger seemed to sense my hesitancy.

"You wear a vest. I, Tank or Lester goes in first. You go nowhere without us. We'll put out word that you're pregnant; I think it will make the everyday skips a lot less likely to stun or shoot you."

I nodded, this seemed like a reasonable way to do things.

"In that case, let's go pick up Jay Kiltner. He's up on drug charges, wasn't armed. Not known to be dangerous." I said and looked at Ranger for confirmation. He nodded and pulled over, I followed him around to the back of the car. He lifted the floor mat in the trunk to reveal a mini weapons cache.

He gave me a Kevlar vest and I shrugged it on over my tank top. The top wouldn't hide it. I webbed a gun holster through my belt loops.

"If anything happens I want you to shoot first and ask questions later okay?" Ranger said in a serious voice.

"Yep." We got back into the SUV and drove to Kiltner's address. Ranger would be going in first and so my 'stun 'em before they see you' approach wouldn't work. Ranger knocked, we waited. Kiltner opened the door buck ass naked. The only weapon he was hold wasn't nearly as impressive as the one I got to see on a daily basis.

Ranger chuckled and moved aside, "He's all yours babe."

I explained that he needed to be rebounded, Yada Yada Yada. I tried not to notice that he was getting aroused. I slapped the cuffs on his left hand and his right hand went wild on his dingaling and all the sudden I was covered in Kiltner. Yuck. I stood there in shock as Ranger went into motion. He stunned Kiltner, cuffed his other hand and put him into the SUV.

I got into the SUV and Ranger was giving me a strange look. And then he was laughing. "Only you…"

I gave him my best angry face and sat still, trying not to spread around the sticky stuff. We took Kiltner in and ran into Joe. Of course.

"Hey cupcake. I hear I owe you my congratulations." He gave me a semi awkward hug and shook Ranger's hand. "I was sort of hoping this news would mean you would stop picking up skips."

"We'll I'm just doing easy ones, with lots of back up. I didn't get shot or blow anything up." I was proud.

"I can see that. What's all over you though?"

I nodded toward the skip and Joe barked out a laugh. "Oh god. Good luck man. Good Luck." Joe said to Ranger. He walked away laughing and shaking his head.


	29. Cravings

**Another day...another chapter! Enjoy!

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The next two weeks went by at a furious pace. We were making wedding plans, getting the RangeMan building completed and I was brining in a few skips a day with the help of the Merry Men. A few days after I found out I was pregnant I started getting sick. I had anytime sickness, not morning sickness. I trudged along and finally it was time for us to move into our new place. I hadn't seen it since the walls went up.

Ranger remoted us into the underground garage. It was much bigger than the old one. There were probably 50 parking spots, maybe more. We rode the elevator up, it had the same security features as the old one. We would just have to push a button on the remote. Everyone would have remotes. They would be programmed to only allow access to the floors in which they were allowed. Pretty nifty. My key let me everywhere besides the private residences on the floors below us. That included Ella and her husband's apartment, the one below them (Ranger hadn't told me who would there) and the smaller (although still huge) apartments on the 5th, 6th, and 7th floors. Floors two, three and four were offices and the security center. The ground floor that I had previously thought had only held reception actually had a pool and the gym. Underground there was a shooting range and weapons room.

The elevator opened directly into our foyer. Everything was beautiful and very natural looking. The floors were bamboo, the kitchen and bathrooms had slate tiles. The kitchen was big and airy. Ranger took me a quick tour, everything was perfect. We got to the last room and I started to cry. It was a nursery. There was a beautiful canopy crib with all the matching furniture. There were toys and stuffed animals and a rocking chair. It was amazing. It wasn't finished; everything in the room so far was very unisex. Ranger was a smart man.

"Do you want a boy or a girl?" He asked me.

"I think I'd like a boy…so you could teach him out to play sports and bond and all that."

"Really? I want a girl. A little girl who is just as beautiful as her mother."

"Huh, Ok I want a girl too but I figured you'd want a boy." I said and Ranger laughed. "Really I'd be happy with either. Just as long as he or she is happy and healthy." I rubbed my nonexistent baby bump and explored the house a little further. I looked outside. RangeMan employees were arriving. Today was moving day.

Ranger took me on a quick tour of the rest of the building and I was told to sit in our apartment and do nothing while he unloaded the clothes we had brought from the batcave. Instead I put on my bathing suit and went down to the pool.

There were floaty noodles and other fun things to play with. I had no idea who had bought them but I figured it hadn't been Ranger. I laid my head on one of the floaty noodles and let myself veg out. I don't know how long I was asleep but I was suddenly woken up to yelling and I was being pulled out of the pool.

I screamed and started struggling reflexively.

"BABE!" I stopped struggling and was carried to the edge of the pool. Tank grabbed my arms and hauled me out. I turned to look at Ranger and giggled. He looked pissed. He also looked like a drowned rat. He was fully dressed and his wet hair was plastered to his forehead.

"Stephanie what were you doing? You can't just disappear without telling someone where you are going." He had his blank face on and I could tell he was trying not to be mad but I was confused.

"Why are you freaking out? You could have just asked the control room where I was."

Ranger sighed. "Stephanie the control room isn't operational for at least another hour. No one saw you come down here. We've been searching for twenty minutes, I was worried Stephanie. And then I come down here and you're floating in the water, not moving. You didn't answer when I called your name! God. I…"

I started to cry then. "I I'm so sor-rr-rr-y," I managed to stutter out. "I'm just so tired and must've fallen asleep. I'm so sorry. Don't be mad, stop calling me Stephanie, I'm not Stephanie I'm babe."

Ranger gave me a peculiar look. "Babe, I'm not mad. I was just scared. I couldn't stand it if I lost you." He wrapped me in a hug and I stopped crying.

"Ranger?"

"Yeah babe?"

"I'm hungry. I'd really like some chicken noodle soup and BBQ chips."

"Okay babe." He helped me stand up and I looked around. Half of RangeMan was standing there along with Diesel.

"Why are you here?"

"I'm living on the 8th floor."

"What? Why? That's great!" I was exceptionally happy to have Diesel around. I gave him a hug and then looked around. "I really need that soup. But I want Chicken Tortilla now. Oooh and a taco. I need a taco."

I started walking out towards the elevator and I heard someone mutter "hormones" behind me. I turned and gave a look that brought even Tank up short. I might have growled.

I rode with Ranger to the 10th floor; we let Diesel off on eight. I went into the master bedroom and rinsed off. I put on a robe and grabbed a pint of ice cream out of the fridge. Ranger took a shower right after me and came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped low around his hips. I licked some ice cream off the spoon I was holding and gave Ranger a sexy smile.

"Babe. You keep giving me that look and you won't be getting your soup."

"I'm not hungry for soup anymore." I slipped my robe off and leaned against the counter naked.

Ranger stalked towards me and watched as I took some whipped cream and squirted right into the ice cream container. I swiped some with my finger and slowly sucked if off as Ranger stopped in front of me. I swiped my finger through the whipped cream again and offered it to him. He closed his lips around my finger and sucked it off. I almost came just standing there.

Ranger lifted me up onto the counter and I moaned as the cool granite touched my hot body. He stepped in between my legs and pressed his lips against mine. His phone rang as he started to tangle our tongues together but he ignored it. It rang again. And again. Finally there was knocking at the door. Ranger handed me my robe and stalked over to the door as I shrugged it on. He pulled the door open and barked out a "WHAT?"

Tank stood on the other side of the door and he didn't look happy.

"Sorry boss man. We've got trouble."

"What kind of trouble?"

"Bomber trouble." I started walking over when he said that. What did I do? I hadn't even blown anything up lately. "Someone just delivered these."

Tank gave Ranger a huge stack of photos. Ranger flipped through them, his blank face slammed into place. There were hundreds of photos. All of them were of me. There were photos of me showering, of me changing, sleeping, eating, walking Bob, shopping, taking down skips. It was a photo gallery of me going back years. The last photo was a recent one of Ranger and I, kissing at the beach. Red writing was scrawled across it.

"I'll kill you before I fuck her."

I watched helplessly as the photos fell out of Ranger's hand and fluttered to the floor.

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**A good chapter? A horrible chapter? A wonderful chapter? Let me know. **


	30. Taco Time

**Hope its good. Review!

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Ranger went into scary commando mode within seconds.

"I want all the security up and running within ten minutes. I want a floor to floor search of the whole building. We're having a meeting in thirty minutes; I want every Trenton RangeMan employee here." Ranger was vibrating with anger. Tank left the room, flipping open his cell phone as he left.

I bent down to pick up the photos but Ranger was already scooping them up. I felt the air pressure change and looked up to see Diesel flipping through some of the pictures.

Ranger looked at Diesel, "I'll be back. Watch her. No leaving this apartment." He walked over to the elevator before I could object.

I stormed after him and he turned around, his blank face still in place.

"Stephanie go back inside."

"No. I'm not the one who the stalker wants to _kill_ Ranger. You don't get to just lock me up and give me orders. I am not one of your employees Ranger." I folded my arms and gave Ranger my version of his scary face. He stalked over to me and picked me up and swung me over his shoulder. I couldn't complain about the view but the method was pissing me off.

Ranger sat me down on the toilet lid and clicked the cuffs onto my left hand and to the towel rack at the same time. I stood up and pulled on the cuffs but I knew I wouldn't be able to get them off. Ranger walked towards the door with me yelling after him.

"RANGER GET BACK HERE! DO NOT LEAVE ME! RANGER! RANGER!" I heard the front door slam. I let out a scream of frustration and kicked the cabinet. I was swearing and muttering when I saw Diesel leaning against the doorframe. "Get me out of these cuffs!"

"No can do oh pregnant one. Ranger would kill me."

"Diesel use your powers for good. Come on, you know you want to."

"Why don't you give it a try?" I rolled my eyes at him. Was he hinting at me being unmentionable again?

"Maybe slightly. You've got a vibe." Diesel said.

I concentrated really hard on the cuffs but nothing happened.

"Don't hurt yourself Steph."

"GET ME OUT OF THESE GODDAMN FUCKING CUFFS OR WHEN I DO GET OUT OF THEM I'LL KICK YOUR ASS BACK TO YOUR HOME PLANET!" Diesel grinned at me and walked out of the room.

"DIESEL! RANGER! SOMEONE GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

No one came to get me out. I heard Diesel moving around in the kitchen. I was really hungry. I still wanted a taco. I refused to ask for a taco. Or a Pepsi. I sat down and waited. Eventually they would unlock me.

I closed my eyes and leaned back. I was tired. I was just falling asleep when I heard someone in the bathroom. I opened my eyes and saw Diesel with a tray. It had tacos and a Pepsi.

"Oh god I love you." I grabbed a taco and gobbled it down. I drank the Pepsi and then ate the other taco. Diesel looked a little scared. "What? I'm eating for two!"

"No shit. You want more?"

Yes, but I didn't want to tell him that. Diesel sighed and went back out to the kitchen. He came back with two more tacos and another Pepsi. I ate those just as quick as the last two.

"Thanks Diesel. Will you let me out now? I promise I'll just watch TV." I yawned to make my point. Diesel came over and touched the cuffs, they fell off my wrist and I walked out to the living room. I walked to the elevator and opened it. Diesel was on the other side with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.

I turned back around and went to living room and started looking through the DVD's. I chose Veronica Mars season one and slid it in. Obviously this was bought for me, not Ranger. I sat down and Diesel settled himself next to me. I burrowed myself into his side and sighed.

Ha! Let Ranger come home to me cuddled next to Diesel. I fell asleep during the second episode.

When I woke up I was in bed and Ranger was sitting in the chair in the corner of the room. I needed to deal with him. But I needed to pee worse. I went to take care of business and then came back and put on my shoes and grabbed my purse. I was going to have dinner at my parent's house. If Ranger wanted to come then fine.

When I got into the elevator Ranger and Diesel were behind me. Lester and Tank were waiting in an SUV by the time we got into the garage. Ranger slid into the Porsche and I climbed into the back seat of the Merry Men Mobile with Diesel. Ranger got out of the Porsche and slid in next to me, pushing me to the middle and bucking my seat belt for me. Tank and Lester nodded and off we went.

"Babe."

I studiously ignored him.

Mom and grandma were waiting on the front porch when we arrived. Lester and Tank didn't get out of the car but they followed when I motioned for them to come inside.

Val and all four kids were there along with Kloughn of course. The dining room table was very full. Luckily my mom's lasagna could feed a small army, because that's what we had.

I ignored Ranger throughout dinner but it was so hectic no one seemed to notice. My dad was eyeing the men wearily. Their attitudes screamed body guard. There was a loud explosion and we all jumped out of our seats. We looked outside to see the SUV in flames. There was a picture taped to the front door. The picture was of Ranger and Diesel. The words "next time one of them will be in the car" were written in blood red ink.

We watched the car burn together; everyone was entranced by the flames. The fire truck pulled up first, followed by Joe in his current POS police car.

The SUV was extinguished and our statements were taken. I guess Ranger decided we should bring the police into the situation because Joe followed us back to the RangeMan building when Hal showed up with a new SUV. I went to change into some PJ's while Ranger showed Joe the photos. Joe had his angry Italian face on. Joe looked like he might pull out his gun and shoot someone right then.

"What have you guys done so far?"

"We've completely secured the building; I've got guys running Babe's skips from the time when the first pictures were taken and before. These are copies of the pictures; the guys are running the others for prints, trying to figure out where they were taken from, with what kind of camera. I've got guys canvassing the city, trying to pick up on any rumors, anything at all."

"And what are you going to do with Cupcake?"

"Keep her in as much as possible." I started to object but Ranger interrupted. "I'll be staying in too babe. As you pointed out, he does want to kill me."

I nodded. As long as I wasn't being locked up while he was out playing Army Ranger I was okay with it.

Joe nodded, "We're going to put a few men around too. Keep us informed please." We said our goodbyes and I sat down to watch TV. Ranger sat next to me. Half way through an episode of Veronica Mars he looked at me with such a perplexed expression that I couldn't help but giggle. The show was great but a little hard to understand if you didn't have the back story.

I paused the DVD and looked at Ranger. I was expecting an apology.

"Babe. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have handcuffed you in the bathroom. I was just worried, over protective. I won't do that again, but you need to promise me you'll listen when I ask you to do something. I know that sometimes I act like an Army Ranger instead of like your husband, but I'm just doing what I think is best."

I sighed, "Ranger…I need…some ice cream…" I smiled at him.

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	31. Marco!

**A surprise or two for you!

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I got half way through my ice cream before falling asleep again. When I woke up it was still dark out. Ranger turned over to press the off switch on the alarm. He got out of bed without saying anything. He knew I was awake, he also knew I was still mad about yesterday.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"Gym."

"Can I come?"

"Babe." He pulled me out of bed and held me against him. "I'm sorry Babe. I overreacted."

"Yeah you did. Can we skip the regular workout and swim?"

"If that's what you want." He went to the closet and came back with a pair of trunks and a one piece suit for me. We changed quickly and got on the elevator together. It stopped again on Diesel's floor and he stepped on. I grinned, Ranger would swim laps, and Diesel would play with me.

I jumped in the water and immediately started splashing Ranger when we got down to the pool. I thought he would start doing laps but instead he splashed me back. I suggest a game of marco polo and both men said yes. I got to be marco first. I couldn't catch them. Finally Diesel offered to be marco and I gladly gave up my position. After getting caught five times in as many minutes I remembered why I used to hate this game. When it was my turn again I decided just to float around on my back and call marco.

"Babe! You're not even trying."

"I'm tired. And hungry!"

Ranger got out of the pool and helped me out. "We better feed you then. What do you want?"

"Um…Cluck in the Bucket."

"Can I send one of the guys out to get it?"

"Sure. But instead I want a BBQ chicken pizza with no onions. Oh and chocolate cheesecake. And mozzarella sticks."

Diesel chuckled and Ranger shook his head a little. "Alright babe."

We all trouped upstairs to wait for my food. I'd only been locked in a few days and I was already going stir crazy. We'd be lucky if we all made it out of this alive, and that part had nothing to do with the stalker.

We fell into an uneasy pattern over the next week. I did searches for RangeMan, watched TV, ate and swam. By the day of my first doctor's appointment even Ranger was going crazy staying in.

We'd had no more threats, nothing had blown up but everyone at RangeMan was a bundle of nervous energy. We left at eight that morning for my appointment. Hal and Cal were in the SUV in front of us, Tank and Lester were in the Porsche with us, and Ram and Erik were behind us in another SUV. I thought it was slight overkill but I was outvoted. Ram and Erik were sent into to secure the building. We got a lot of looks as we walked in flanked by out body guards. There was a Merry Man at each entrance plus one with us in the waiting room.

We did all the normal doctor stuff, height, weight, and medical history.

"You've already gained 7 pounds?" The nurse looked faintly amused.

"Well…yeah…" She was measuring my stomach.

"Well you're measuring larger than eight weeks too. I'm beginning to think we were a few weeks off. You might be more like 10 or 11 weeks.

"No…I couldn't be."

"You couldn't?"

"Not unless sex is no long criteria for getting pregnant."

The nurse laughed. "Well in general it still is. I guess you just have a big baby in there."

Wonderful, I was carrying a giant.

The sonogram tech came in and had me lay down. I got the blue goop squirted on me and then he was pressing the wand to my abdomen.

"Oh."

"What? What's wrong?" Ranger asked.

"Nothing. Actually, um, how would you feel about two?"

"Two what?" I asked.

"Babies?"

"At the same time? Like now? Twins? Am I having twins?"

"You certainly are. You see here this is baby A and this is baby B."

I looked at the screen, not quite believing what I was seeing. Two babies. Twins.

Ranger spoke up, "Are they identical of fraternal?"

"I can't tell from this. In two weeks we can do a trans-vaginal ultrasound. I should be able to tell at that point if the babies share a placenta, if they do they are identical, if not then they could be identical or fraternal. At eighteen weeks we'll be able to tell if what sex the babies are, that could help too. I'll print off some of these images for you. You can go ahead and sit up, the doctor should be in soon." The tech turned off the ultrasound machine and left the room.

I looked at Ranger. "Two…"

"Babe!" He kissed me senseless until we heard the door open.

"It really is no wonder you're pregnant!"

I laughed and she congratulated us on the twin news. "Now, because you're having twins you'll be coming in more frequently than if you were having one baby." She gave us a bunch of stuff to read about twins and set up a visiting schedule. I was coming back in two weeks to get another ultrasound that would help us possibly figure out what kind of twins I was carrying.

We left, but didn't say anything to the guys. I think we were both digesting the new information still. We were halfway to the Porsche when the shots rang out. Someone was shooting with a machine gun. I threw myself down, slower than normal, making sure not to put pressure on my stomach. Ranger went down slower too, careful not to crush me. I heard our men firing back. I heard someone's gun drop, and then the thump of a body going down. There was more shooting and some yelling and the sound of another body going down. Finally silence. It only lasted a few seconds. And then Ranger was barking orders and there were sirens in the distance. Ranger was off of me now and checking me over.

"Stephanie are you okay?"

"I'm fine, how are, how are the men?"

I sat up and looked around. Ranger had several holes in his shirt. Blood was streaming from his shoulder but his vest had saved him from getting hit bad. All of the men had gotten hit; luckily they were all wearing Kevlar. Lester had been hit in the shoulder like Ranger. The shooter was dead, sprawled in the middle of the street, his machine gun beside him.

I got a text message: **Looks like you killed my shooter. Oh well, there are always more where he came from. **

I'd thought it was over for a minute. Apparently we weren't that lucky.

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**Tell me your thoughts and I'll give you more. **


	32. Two little Shrimp

**Whoooo Chapter 32! Is everyone still enjoying the story?!

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**

I'm pretty sure Ranger thought about going straight to the airport and getting us on a flight to nowhere after reading that text message. All three of the SUVs were damaged and had liquids leaking out of them so we called for a ride and then gave statements to the police.

I was still holding the sonogram images when Joe walked up. He motioned for me to give them to him and he raised an eyebrow at them.

"What am I seeing here? It looks like you're carrying two shrimp."

I pointed, "Baby A, Baby B."

"You're having twins?"

"Yep." At this point I looked around and noticed all six of my bodyguards were staring in disbelief.

"Congratulations Cupcake." He turned to Ranger, "You better hope for boys. I knew her when she was little. You don't want that times two." Joe kissed my hair and walked back to his SUV.

"I think I should be insulted."

"Babe. A madman just tried to kill us and you're insulted because Joe insinuated that you were a bit of a hellion when you were younger? I could have figured that out. And after seeing Grandma Mazur I'm pretty sure I know what you'll be like when you're old too. Personally I think two mini versions of you would be great."

I pictured two of myself at age five running around and shuddered. God help us.

"Babe." Ranger through an arm around my shoulder and herded my towards the RangeMan SUV that pulled up. My cell phone rang as I got in the car.

"Hello?"

"Where the hell are you? I've got skips coming out of my ass! Ranger's not answering his phone and Lula couldn't catch a turtle! Get your ass into work or you're fired!" With that Vinnie hung up on me.

I called Connie. "Connie! Doesn't Vinnie know were offline? Vinnie might have skips coming out of his ass but I've got a psycho killer on mine!"

"Sorry Steph. Vinnie is crazy. Is there any chance you can pick up Mooner and Dougie? Lula won't go near them. She's afraid they'll be having another Star Trek party."

I sighed; yeah I don't think Ranger could argue with that." I hung up and looked at Ranger.

"No skips Stephanie. We're going back to the apartment." He tried to give me a look that said "I'm in command" but I stared him down.

"Come on? Please? It's just Dougie and Mooner! Please? Carlos?"

"Mmm, Babe calling me Carlos isn't fair. I like it way too much." He looked at me and sighed. "Fine just Dougie and Mooner."

I looked at the driver. "Who are you? I don't know you."

"I'm Tony. I just transferred here from RangeMan Seattle." I looked at Ranger. I didn't even know there was a RangeMan Seattle. I gave Tony the address and off we went. I was surrounded by a wall of black as we walked towards Dougie's house. I knocked and Mooner answered.

"Dudette! Nice to see you and the men in black. How can I help you? Perhaps you need a toaster or blender?"

"You and Dougie didn't show up to court again. You know for the truck incident?" Mooner and Dougie had been selling jeans and toasters out of the back of a truck. When they got word that the police were coming they hightailed it, without closing the back of the truck. They'd jammed traffic for miles.

"Oh no. I wrote it down. On a sticky note. I know I did…huh…Can you take us now so that we're back in time for the Roswell marathon tonight?"

"No problem. Go get Dougie." Mooner turned around and I saw his sticky note, reading "Judge Judy" on his ass. I looked at Ranger who was blinking like he might have just hallucinated the whole conversation.

Mooner reappeared with Dougie in tow.

"So this must be like your new partner huh?" Mooner asked as we ambled to the SUV.

"No actually this is Ranger, he's my fiancé."

"Dude! You're getting married? Awesome! You should have a Gilligan's Island themed wedding."

"Uh, I'll think about that. You're both invited to the wedding, you're invitations should be arriving soon, but I'll remind you before its time okay?"

"That would be fantabulous! Is it dressy?"

"Not too dressy."

"Righteous."

Dougie suddenly pointed to the sonogram photos, "What's with the x-rays of the shrimps?"

"Those aren't shrimp! Why does everyone think that?! Those are my babies!" I might have gone a little crazy. No one wants to hear that their babies look like an appetizer.

Both Dougie and Mooner clapped! "Babies! Like two? How many? Maybe you'll have eight like that woman I saw on the TV."

Ranger spoke up, "Nope just two, see, two shrimp."

"RANGER!"

"Babe."

I folded my arms and sat back. We arrived at the station and waited while Vinnie re-bonded the guys. He gave both Ranger and I a dirty look and Ranger took him off to the side for a moment. I saw Vinnie go ghost white and then he nodded and left.

Ranger rejoined us and we all trouped back to the parking lot. "What did you say to Vinnie?"

"I told him that you could do many skips right now because you're pregnant but that I'd have a few of my men keep things running until after the babies were born. Then I told him if he didn't like my solution that I would cut off his balls and feed them to the goat he's so fond of."

"Ah."

We dropped the boys off so they could get into their Roswell clothes. I didn't even want to know what that entailed.

"So…someone tried to take out a hit on us…"

"Yes, we're having a meeting when we get home. I'm not sure what to do Steph. We can't hide out forever, but we're getting nowhere with the case."

"Maybe one of the guys will flex his brain muscle and come up with something. Not to add to your stress but I've got dress fittings tomorrow in Manhattan, and you and the guys have tux fittings."

"Who all is coming?"

"Lula, Connie, Mary Lou, my sister, and your sisters since they are all bridesmaids now. My mom and grandma, All four of the girls plus your five younger nieces, for their flower girl dresses. Julie's is being made according the measurements Rachel sent. Your mom and grandma, Tank, Lester, your brother, Hal, Cal, Bobby, Hector, and Erik. Plus both of your youngest nephews."

"Christ."

"Hey you wanted all the men, so I had to get an equal number of bridesmaids and then I wanted my nieces and so we had to have your nieces and of course Julie had to be a flower girl once Rachel said she could come, and then your nephews as ring bearers. Oh and my dad! He gets a tux too. Oh! You don't have to wear a dress uniform do you?"

"No, I haven't had a dress uniform in years."

"Okay. I picked out you're tuxes last time I was there. You all just have to be fitted."

I was getting glances from Tank and Lester who were in the SUV with us. They didn't want to be fitted for tuxes. Or wear tuxes I was guessing. "Don't look so sad boys, black on black. Only the vest and tie will be a different color."

The men nodded, they wouldn't argue with me. It got awkwardly silent so I looked at Ranger.

"Can I call you Ricky?"

"No."

"Ricardo?"

"No."

"Rick."

"No."

"Carlos?"

"Yep."

"I don't want to call you Carlos. I want to call you Ricky."

"Nope."

I gave up and went back to looking out the window. I must have gone to lalaland because Ranger shook me a little. "Babe?"

"Ricky?"

"Babe." He helped me climb out of the car and we took the elevator up to our floor.

"Can we have steaks for dinner? With baked potatoes?"

"Steaks with rice pilaf?" Ranger walked to the fridge and pulled out a Corona.

"Deal." I grabbed his beer, "But if my body is a temple so is yours." I went to put the beer back in the fridge but it was suddenly gone. "What the fuck?" I thought about it for a minute. "I think Diesel just popped that beer out of here!"

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**Give it a grade!**


	33. Fat Pants

**33! WHOOHOO! BE HAPPY!

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**

Ranger woke me up at six the next morning for a morning workout. I got up and changed into some gym clothes.

"Ranger I'm pregnant, I shouldn't be doing a lot of physical activity."

Ranger laughed, "Babe, I want you to do some yoga, Maybe a little walking on the treadmill. Plus, the baby book says you need to exercise."

"You read a baby book? I didn't read a baby book. I'm going to be a crap mom."

"I started it last night after you fell asleep. And you're going to be a wonderful mom," Ranger said as we got onto the elevator. It stopped on the eighth floor and Diesel ambled in, wearing workout clothes.

"Did you pop a beer out of my hand last night?" I asked, giving Diesel a stern look.

"I might have." Diesel gave me a dimpled grin and I shook my head. Lester and Bobby were sparring when we walked into the gym; they paused for a second and waved. I got on the treadmill and started walking. Diesel and Ranger were stretching, getting ready to spar after Lester and Bobby were done. I watched Ranger bend over and touch his toes. I was suddenly a little a wet.

"Babe." Ranger said as he stood up. He was giving me a sexy grin and I sighed. I turned off the treadmill and walked over to the stereo. I turned it on and found a song I liked. I decided to go on the elliptical. I'd never used one before and it was a little hard to get the hang of.

"What the hell is this thing? Every time I get a good motion going I start to feel like I'm going to fall off!" I grumbled. I really wasn't talking to anyone in particular but Diesel laughed.

"You'll get it Steph." I watched as he and Ranger went to the middle of the mat. They circled and then started jabbing and kicking. It was beautiful, they made it seem like a carefully choreographed dance. After about twenty minutes I abandoned the elliptical and sat on the bench to watch them.

They finished up and Diesel ambled to my side. "So what did you think?"

"Would've been cooler with kilts and swords." And blue faces I thought.

Both Diesel and Ranger grinned. "It's not Braveheart babe."

There were two locker rooms in the new building. So far I was the only person who used the ladies locker room. I was in the shower when I felt someone come up behind me. I relaxed against Ranger.

"Babe, anyone could sneak up on you." He took the Bulgari shower gel from the shelf and poured some onto his hands. He lathered my back and I moaned as his fingers massaged my tense muscles. "Not now babe. You need breakfast."

"You're right. I need breakfast."

We got dressed and took the elevator upstairs. Ella was setting out waffles and fruit when we got to the kitchen.

"Oh Ella, can I just marry you instead of Ranger?"

"I don't think Carlos would like that dear. Is there something you wanted to tell me?"

I thought for a moment. Oh! "Oh! We're having twins!"

"Congratulations!" She looked at my belly, "Are you sure it's only twins?"

I looked down. Huh. I seemed bigger then yesterday. "Yup."

Ella left and we sat down to eat our breakfast. After I was done I went to change. The jeans I tried on wouldn't button. Damn washing machine must have shrunk them. I'd worn yoga pants the last few days. I grabbed the jeans I'd worn last, maybe a week ago, they'd been tight but not too bad. I noticed the size as I was putting them on and screamed. They were a size eight. I wore a six. Not an eight. And the eights were tight. Tighter than last time even.

Ranger came bursting in the closet, gun drawn to find me in my underwear staring at my jeans. "What's wrong?" he asked and holstered his gun.

"They don't fit! I'm fat and my pants don't fit! I shouldn't be showing! Valerie didn't show until she was like 4 months! I'm only 8 weeks!

"You're having twins babe. And you're not showing per say…Just…thickening a bit."

Oh god he was right. It wasn't a bump. It was just fat! "Oh great! So I'm just fat for the sake of being fat! It's not even the babies that are making me fat!" I sighed and yanked on the eights. I pulled out a bra and put it on. It didn't fit. My cups runeth over. Literally. I took off the bra and pulled on a tank top with a built in bra.

"I could get used to those," Ranger said with a grin.

"I need to go shopping."

"Well luckily we're going to Sak's anyway."

"OH! The dress fitting! We're going to be late if we don't hurry. Oh by the way…" I trailed off.

"I don't like the sound of that."

"Well I was thinking this morning, Diesel should be in the wedding. Do you want him as a groomsman? I mean I know I'm more his friend but I don't think he'd look very good in the dress I've got picked out."

"That's a good idea babe. But won't we be uneven?"

"I thought maybe we could make Julie a bridesmaid?"

"I think she'd love that babe." He kissed me on the head and herded me out the door. I went to push the button for eight but it was already lit. Diesel got on and smiled at Ranger.

"I always knew you loved me man!"

"Steph loves you, I tolerate you."

"I'll take it."

We met our entourage in the garage. Everyone else was meeting us in Manhattan. I was sandwiched in between Diesel and Ranger. Tank and Lester were up front. We had another SUV behind us with the other five RangMen groomsmen. We got to Sak's and the lady at the bridal boutique looked a little overwhelmed. The other wedding party members started showing up and she damn near had a meltdown. We managed to get organized and everyone was fitted and or measured. Even Lula liked the bridesmaids dresses I had picked out, despite the fact they weren't spandex or neon colored.

People left as their fittings were finished and at the end I was left just with Ranger, Diesel, Tank and Lester for my shopping. We stopped to look at the directory and as I went to go up, Ranger went to go down.

"Where are you going babe? Maternity is on the 4th floor."

"Uh…maternity? I'm not that big! I was just going to buy some normal clothes."

"Which you'll out grow. I think you might want to go with some stretchy waist pants."

I felt tears come to my eyes, "I don't want stretchy pants!"

Ranger hugged me, "Babe, this is a good thing. We want them to grow big and healthy, but that means you're going to have to get a little bigger too. Let's just go look and see what they have ok?"

I nodded, "Okay." We went down a floor and I was actually pleasantly surprised. They had super cute jeans. I didn't really see any tops I liked but I could still wear tank tops. I picked out some jeans and Juicy tracksuits to try on. They were all still a little big around my belly but I could tell they would fit soon. I gave in and bought them. I decided I might as well just stock up, I knew it made Ranger nervous for us to leave the house too much. I got some shorts and a new bathing suit that I didn't even begin to fill out yet. We went up a floor and I stocked up on some shirts that would last me for a while. I bought some new bras, surprised that I'd gone up a whole cup size.

The boys carried my numerous bags for me. We all had lunch at some trendy Manhattan restaurant where my boys got a lot of looks from women. Four women gave Diesel their numbers. My glare kept them away from Ranger. I ate all of my burger and part of Rangers chicken. When the waitress asked if we wanted desert everyone else groaned and said they were too full.

"I'll have the chocolate cake. Oh and a piece of cheesecake."

"Babe."

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**How'd I do?**


	34. BombshellBountyHunter

**New chapter! Extra long! Just for you!**

: I have no idea, I'm just going to write until the story seems to be over. :)

**Enjoy!!!

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**

Everything had gone so well that I was waiting for the other shoe to drop on the way home. We made it home without a hitch though. I was exhausted and ready for another shower. I made it short and crawled into bed well before it was time to sleep.

When I woke up it was a little after 2am. I tried to go back to sleep but had no luck. I turned on my side to watch Ranger sleep. It was such a weird experience. He was so peaceful while he slept. He was on his back, the sheet riding very low on his hips. I trailed a finger down his abs and played it along the edge of the sheet.

I let my tongue trace along the same trail until I felt Ranger tense slightly. "Babe." I slid the sheet down a little further, playing my tongue over Rangers hip. He threaded his hands through my hair and pulled gently.

I slid the sheet down all the way and straddled Rangers legs. I bent my head down and slowly licked him, letting my tongue dance over his head before I took him into my mouth. He was hard and hot inside my mouth and I couldn't wait to have him in my pussy. I took as much of him as I could into my mouth, until his dick was going down the back of my throat. He moaned and yanked lightly on my hair again. I let my mouth slide up and down his dick, sucking lightly. I'd never given Ranger head before and I was making up for lost time. I let my tongue swirl around him before taking him deep into my throat again. I started humming lightly and he jerked. "Oh god Babe. I'm going to cum." He tried to pull out of my mouth but I sucked a little harder and felt him spilling down the back of my throat. I only let him withdrawal when I had sucked him dry.

"Christ." I giggled at Rangers reaction and rolled onto my back. Ranger was suddenly on top of me.

"My turn." The grin on his face was wicked. He kissed down my stomach, stopping to dip his tongue into my belly button. His tongue traced along my hip bone and then down to the hollow on the inside of my thigh. He sucked on that same spot until my back bowed. He licked and sucked everywhere but where I really needed him to.

"Ranger please?"

"Please what babe?"

"Fuck me."

Ranger licked my slit from bottom to top, stopping to suck my clit into his mouth. "Not yet babe." My hips bucked against his mouth as he worked me. I was moaning and I had the sheets balled into my hands. I was on the edge of coming when Ranger pulled away.

"Ranger!"

"Patience, Babe, Patience." He kissed back up my left thigh and worked his way back up to my stomach. "You taste good." He spent a few moments murmuring in Spanish to my stomach.

"Will you teach me?" I asked as he continued his kisses up to my neck.

"Will I teach you what?" He asked.

"Spanish," I said.

He tugged on my ear with his teeth."You want learn Spanish?"

"Mmhmm. I want our kids to speak it, it would be easier if I could too."

Ranger kissed my collar bone and nudged my thighs apart. "You're pretty amazing, you know that?"

I wrapped my legs around his waist, "I've been told." Ranger held my hips still as he slid inside of me. Despite the fact that I was wet and ready he slid into me agonizingly slow. I tried to bring my hips up to meet him but he held them tightly. I bit his neck, "I wanna be on top."

Ranger rolled us without pulling out of me so that I was on top. I lowered myself so that he was completely inside of me. I placed my hands on his chest and rolled my hips slowly. Ranger's hands went to my hips and I started to move faster. Apparently it wasn't enough for Ranger though because I suddenly found myself on my hands and knees. I grabbed the headboard as Ranger kneeled behind me. His hands found my hips again and he pulled me against him as he thrust into me. He fucked me hard and fast, pounding his hips against me. Every other thrust he was swiveling his hips and hitting my g-spot. I let my head hang down and realized I could look down my body and see Ranger thrusting in and out of me. That was all it took for my orgasm to overtake me. My body tensed and my pussy clenched around Rangers dick. I felt my wetness leak out of me and down my thighs. I screamed and felt Ranger thrust into me harder a few more times before he spilled inside of me.

I collapsed on to my stomach and looked over at Range when he laid back down. "You could do that professionally. You'd make a killing."

I felt Ranger chuckle next to me. "I'm going to assume you mean that as a compliment."

"Of course I did. Love you."

Ranger pulled me next to him and put a hand on my stomach, "I love you too babe."

Morning came entirely too soon. I woke up a few seconds before the alarm went off and drug myself out of bed. I pulled on some sweats and sat waiting for Ranger.

"I'm impressed babe." He said as he pulled on some shorts.

I smiled, "I figured the sooner we got down there and worked out the sooner I'd get breakfast."

"Babe." We met Diesel in the elevator again and rode down together. I stretched and then hopped on the elliptical while Ranger and Diesel sparred. After a few minutes Lester walked in with coffee. I jumped off the elliptical and ran to him.

Oh, "That's not coffee."

"Hey Bombshell, nope, these are smoothies. You get this one. It's the mommy to be smoothie." I took it and looked at it wearily. I'd never had luck with Ranger endorsed smoothies before. I took a tentative sip and moaned.

"This is like a peanut butter dream." I said and Ranger laughed. "Seriously…its peanut butter…and banana…and honey…"

"Yup, chalk full of goodness for you and the little parasites."

"Wow, that's a ringing endorsement Lester!" I said sarcastically.

"I mean it with all the love in the world," He said with a smile.

I drank down my smoothie and went into the locker room to change into my swimsuit. I pulled on some goggles and got in. I was one my 10th lap when someone grabbed my ankle. I turned in the water and recognized Rangers torso and legs. I surfaced and gave him a look.

"Steph…are you okay?"

"Yes…why?"

"Well, you woke up before the alarm, you didn't complain about the work out and to top it off you're swimming laps instead of lying on a floatie with a pina colada."

I laughed, "I want healthy little babies. Hence some exercise and I'm going to try to eat better."

Ranger gave me a hug, "Good." He started swimming laps and I joined him. I did another ten laps and then gave up. I sat on the edge and watched Ranger swim for another 30 minutes. Watching Ranger swim was as amazing as watching him do everything else.

Ranger finished up and we went straight upstairs to shower, change and eat. Ranger had paperwork to do and I was going to run some searches. We took the elevator down and I stopped confused.

"Uh…do I have a place to work here?" I asked.

Ranger nodded and I followed him. We bypassed the cubicles and some smaller offices. I walked past a door labeled with "Carlos Manoso CEO RangeMan" to a door that was labeled "Bombshell". Ranger opened the door and I gasped.

"I figured since you're going to be doing mainly office stuff until after the babies were born that you might want your own space. We share a bathroom. Brand new Mac and all the goodies to go with it."

There was a large u-shaped desk against one wall, with a bitchin' leather chair. Against the wall that the desk faced there was a low cabinet and a really large mirror. I sat down and pushed a button on a space age looking touch screen remote. The mirror disappeared and I was watching The Hills.

"OH MY GOD! It's a TV!"

"It is. However if you start turning in half assed reports the TV goes away."

"Yes sir!" I booted on the computer and looked back to Ranger, "That will be all. Thank you."

"Did you just dismiss me?" Ranger asked with a smile.

I shook my head, "Nope. I would never do that."

"Good because you're on the clock and I'm your boss." Ranger shut the door and sat down across from me. "Steph, most of the guys know you personally, most of them know me personally, but at work, I need us to keep it professional okay? If you want to fight or argue about something we do it in private. The men are scared of me, let's keep it that way." Ranger stood and leaned over my desk to give me a kiss. "Lunch at noon followed by target practice."

"Is that okay for the babies? The loud noised?"

"You'll be wearing Kevlar. But I hadn't thought about that. Call our obstetrician and make sure. I love you babe." Ranger left and I grabbed my cell phone and put a call in to Dr. Jacobson. I asked her about shooting practice and the silence on the other end was palatable.

"I wouldn't recommend it. There is no hard evidence but between lead intake and the noise…No I would stay away from an indoor range especially."

I thanked Dr. Jacobson. So no target practice for me. I was going to get rusty. I left my office and knocked on Ranger's door frame. He was on the phone but motioned for me to come in and sit down. He finished up and looked at me. "What's up babe?"

"Dr. Jacobson said no."

"Okay we'll do something else. Oh I forgot to show you, we got something new. Everyone has an instant messaging screen name now, you can use them on the computers and on the new phones. Easy way for us all to stay in touch. You're screen name is BombshellBountyHunter. Everyone else's are fairly easy to figure it out. Have fun."

"Are you dismissing me?"

"No you can stay and watch me as long as you want I suppose."

I sat in the chair across from his desk and watched him work for a while. He did some paperwork, made some calls. Ranger was in the zone.

"Babe?"

"Yup?"

"I love you but you're driving me crazy."

"I love you too." I got up and went back to my office. I signed onto the instant messaging program. I looked at the names and grinned. Most were just people's first and last names but some were fun. There were at least fifty names on the list. I found Ranger and sent him an IM.

**BombshellBountyHunter: Hi there hot stuff. What do you say we meet in my office for a quickie instead of lunch? You can eat me!**

**TheSexyArmyRanger: I don't know if Lula would like that Bombshell.**

**BombshellBountyHunter: Tank???**

**TheSexyArmyRanger: Yes?**

**BombshellBountyHunter: OMG! I thought you were Ranger. Sorry. **

**TheSexyArmyRanger: I can see how you would make that mistake. **

**BombshellBountyHunter: Alright then. Uh…I'm going to go find my fiancée. Bye now.**

**TheSexyArmyRanger: Bye bombshell. **

Oh crap that was embarrassing. I had just propositioned Ranger's right hand man. Cripes. I searched the list a little more carefully and found Ranger.

**BombshellBountyHunter: Ranger?**

**RangeManBossMan: Babe?**

**BombshellBountyHunter: Oh good, it's you. **

**RangeManBossMan: Who else would it be?**

**BombshellBountyHunter: Uh…nevermind. Just seeing if this works. **

**RangeManBossMan: Alright. Let me know if you need anything. **

**BombshellBountyHunter: You got it. **

A message popped up saying someone named "SexyLittleThing" had added me to their buddy list. I clicked accept and IM'ed Ranger again.

**BombshellBountyHunter: Who is SexyLittleThing?**

**RangeManBossMan: No clue. **

I shrugged and opened a new window.

**BombshellBountyHunter: Who is this?**

**SexyLittleThing: Stephanie? This is your Grandma.**

I stared at the screen for a moment. What? Grandma?!

**BombshellBountyHunter: Grandma? How did you set up an IM account?**

**SexyLittleThing: Oh I've had one since my gaming days. Mooner and Zook helped me set it up. I saw your name under "new members" and figured it must be you! **

**BombshellBountyHunter: Oh, great. Well it's been nice talking to you. I need to go work now. **

**SexyLittleThing: Ok dear, have a good day. **

I set my status to busy and started looking through the pile of searches in my inbox. They had magically appeared while I'd been visiting Ranger.

I'd done two in depth searches and a few less invasive ones. I reached to get a new file and jumped and yelped. Ranger and Diesel were sitting in the chairs across from my desk.

"I need to get you both bells."

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**I want 15 reviews for another chapter! :)**


	35. Black Ops

**Okay this popped into my head and so I wrote it. I hope everyone enjoys!

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**

Diesel chuckled and Rangers phone rang, he flipped it open without looking at the caller ID.

"Yo. Sir, Sorry Sir. Yes Sir. Yes. I…Yes sir. Thank you sir." Rangers face had hardened and I knew I wasn't going to like what happened next.

"You gotta go be the wind? I asked. I knew the answer.

"I'm sorry."

I nodded, "its okay. Go be a hero. Just be back in time for the wedding."

"You and Tank are in charge. I don't have to tell you to be safe. Come upstairs with me. I just need to grab a few things. A chopper is picking me up on the roof it twenty."

I nodded. We rode the elevator together, Ranger pausing to tell Tank what was going on. We got upstairs and Ranger went to the closet. He opened a door I didn't know was there and pulled out some fatigues. He stripped down and pulled on the pants and then a Kevlar vest. A green t-shirt, then his long-sleeved camo shirt went over it. He strapped guns on, laced up his boots. Last but not least a set of dog tags. I'd know Ranger as a lot of things. Friend, mentor, boss, lover, mercenary. Now I had a soldier standing in front of me.

I bit my lip. Damn he looked sexy. "You sure you only have twenty minutes?"

"I'm down to ten babe. Let's go to the roof."

I followed him silently. He was holding my hand. Cal was already on the roof in fatigues when we got there. I didn't know Cal did missions.

I heard the chopper before I saw it. It sat down, the wind making my hair fly around my face. A man in a non-camo uniform stepped off the chopper and walked over to us as the blades stopped spinning.

"Captain. This is Stephanie Plum. She'd my fiancée, my next of kin from now on." I didn't miss the inflection. I was the person who got called if he died.

"Nice to meet you Stephanie. We'll get him back to you as soon as we can." He reached out to shake my hand.

"I'm counting on it." I grabbed his hand and pulled myself close. "If anything happen to him, I will pull you to pieces with my bare hands," I whispered, I let go of his hand and smiled pleasantly. He looked somewhat green.

I turned to Cal, "Take care of him for me. Take care of yourself."

"You got it bombshell. You make sure to take care of all three of you!" He walked towards the chopper and got on, followed by the Captain.

Ranger kissed me hard, "I love you. I will be back." He dropped to his knees and laid a kiss on my stomach. He rose and walked to the chopper. I didn't cry until he was in the air. I turned around when I couldn't see the chopper any more. A few of the men were there, waiting for me. We went downstairs and I locked myself in my office, finishing the searches that were in my inbox. Around six there was a knock.

"Come in."

Tank opened the door and came in, closing the door behind himself.

"Stephanie you need to eat." Oh hmm. Yeah I was hungry.

"Oh yeah, okay." I got up and turned off my computer. We headed out and Tank walked me to the elevator.

"We'll have a meeting tomorrow morning at 8am. You're officially in charge while Ranger's gone and he wants me to train you on how to do his job basically. I'll see you then."

I got on the elevator and beeped up to my floor. The elevator stopped on eight and Diesel got on.

"Can I eat dinner with you?"

"Of course." We were both silent as we got off the elevator. Diesel slumped on the couch and I picked up the phone to dial Ella.

"Hey Ella, I didn't know if you were making food or not. Rangers gone for a while but Diesel's mooching off of me. If you don't want to cook I can make something."

"Dinner is almost ready. I'll be up soon."

"Thanks Ella."

I went to sit by Diesel on the couch. We didn't talk; I really wasn't in the mood. I was worried about Ranger of course. I didn't like him going on these unknown missions, but it was his job. He was obviously good at it.

It was getting harder for me to think or Ranger that way. As black ops, trained to kill. He was the father of my children now. But I'd always know Ranger was a few steps closer to the dark side then most people. I couldn't fault him for it, it was who he was. In fact he'd been able to save me or keep me safe countless times because of it.

I ate quickly when the food arrived and excused myself to go to sleep. Diesel was watching a game and I told him he could stay as long as he'd like.

I fell asleep to the sounds of cheering as someone hit a homerun on the west coast.

The next few days passed quickly. Tank was teaching me how to run the business and there was a lot to consider. I sat in on client meetings, learned how to deal with paperwork and studied up on our security offerings. I wasn't supposed to be going out so people came to visit me. My family came over to look at my new apartment and they were impressed. It was bigger than their house. Grandma wanted to get in some target practice but we quickly talked her out of that.

Lula came over and we had a slumber party complete with nail painting and chick flicks.

Another week passed and time started ticking by at a snail's pace. I was tired of sitting inside doing admin work all day. Tired of talking to the men. Tired of waiting for Ranger. Tired or worrying. I started kickboxing and doing yoga. I swam daily. I learned how to bake brownies from scratch. I shopped online. I did everything I could think to keep from going stir crazy but it didn't help.

It had been 19 days since Ranger left when I had my next doctor's appointment. I went in, flanked by a full security detail, despite the fact that we'd had no contact from the stalker. Diesel went in with me.

Dr. Jacobson seemed to like Diesel a lot. I had another ultrasound and we found out that the twins were sharing one placenta, which meant they were identical. I left a message on Ranger's phone, knowing he would check it as soon as the mission was over. I kept it brief, "Hey I love you, went to the doctor. They're identical and healthy. Love you."

Two days later I was in the gym when Tank came down. "Stephanie? You have a visitor."

He wouldn't say anything else and I followed him upstairs to my office. I walked in and saw the Captain standing by my desk.

I stared disbelieving. This wasn't happening. "Please tell me he's okay."

The Captain shook his head lightly, "We don't know for sure. His whole unit has gone missing. We know they were under heavy fire. We think they were taken prisoner." I was relieved. At least he wasn't dead for sure.

"Where was he?" My voice was cold and dark. It was a voice I'd heard Ranger use before.

"I'm not at liberty to disclose that information."

"You are going to tell me where he was. You are going to take me with you to where ever it is that you guys are working from to find my husband. You are not going to talk to me about protocol or what you are or aren't at liberty to disclose. You are going to do this because if you don't I will make good on my threat to pull you apart piece by piece. I'm a woman on the verge Captain. Do not fuck with me right now."

The Captain looked completely frightened. His expression changed and he nodded.

"Tank go upstairs and grab my duffle bag. Grab my cosmetics kit and vitamins. My purse is on the counter." Tank left the room quickly.

I motion for the Captain to follow me. I went to the weapons room. "Is it okay for a civilian to carry guns Sir?"

"Yes ma'am. I think we can allow that, as long as you promise not to shoot me or my men."

"I promise." I threaded a holster through my maternity jeans. I grabbed a gun and holstered it. I knew I wouldn't need it, but I wasn't going to be the only person without a gun. Tank returned with my bag.

"Stephanie maybe you should stay here."

I shot Tank a look that I think scared him and walked with the Captain to the elevator. We boarded and someone in a uniform got me harnessed in and gave me a headset.

"Will you please tell me what is going on?"

"We're going to Fort Dix now. You'll be going with Major General Atmyer and a new team to Fort Sam Houston. You'll be briefed there." I nodded and looked out the window. The ride was short. I was taken straight to a plane and put on board with the Major General.

"Hello sir."

"I really expected you to be a lot scarier. Things don't usually work like this. The Captain said the look on your face would have gotten terrorists to confess their secrets. You want to come do this, I'll let you, but it will be done my way. I've got a uniform for you. You will follow my commands or you will be on the first plane back. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir." He sized me up and his eyes fell to my somewhat noticeable bump. He looked a woman in uniform next to him.

"Get her in uniform, put a vest on her." The woman saluted and I followed her to the back of plane. This was all a little surreal to me.

I was outfitted just like her within minutes. My unruly hair was hidden under a cap.

"I was told to give you these tags. I don't know how they'll help. They are an extra set of one our men's."

I looked at the tags, "Ranger's?" I asked. Obviously she had no idea who I was or what was going on.

"Uh…yes…"

"I'm his…fiancée."

"Oh. I've done missions with Ranger several times. He's amazing. He'll be fine. We're going to find him." I nodded and followed her back to the front. I sat down next to the Major General and waited for the flight to end.

We arrived at Fort Sam in the middle of the night. We were taken to a slightly larger plane right away. We got dinner on the plane and when I couldn't stand it anymore I asked the Major General when I would be briefed.

"Now. This is all top secret. No one can know anything I'm about to tell you."

"Yes sir."

"What do you know about Ranger's military career?"

"Nothing more than that he was in the Rangers sir."

"Ranger is still technically in the Rangers. However he only works certain missions. He's black ops. Ranger is the best of the best and the things he does don't actually happen. He is currently ranked as a First Lieutenant. When he is on a mission he is in charge of his men. Sometimes we send him in alone, sometimes with a team. He does a wide variety of missions not all of which was sanctioned."

"He's like 007?" I asked and the Captain raised an eye brow before continuing.

"He was sent in with a team of twenty men to take out a Columbian drug lord hiding in the jungle. We lost communication with them yesterday morning. We believe they've been taken prisoner. We'll be sending in a new team to find and retrieve them. Any questions?"

"No."

"Good. Get some sleep. It's a long flight and we're going to be busy tomorrow."

I dosed off thinking I must already be dreaming.

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**And?!?!?!**


	36. Rescue Rangers

**Let me know if you like it!**

Just a note: I really know nothing about the military or military operations, so please forgive anything thats wrong. :)

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I slept for about four hours before the plane landed at the new base. I wasn't sure what I was going to be allowed to do now that I was here. Probably they'd want me to stay on base and sit and twiddle my fingers. I had no intention of doing that however. I was going to rescue Ranger.

I disembarked the plane behind the Major General and followed him to a low building. The Major was given some papers and read through them quickly.

The rest of us stood waiting for, well orders I guess. I took the same stance as the other soldiers; I had no idea what it was called. The Major General finished reading and turned to us.

"It seems that we now have a location for our team. You will be going in to retrieve our men and terminate the original target. This will not be easy. They were able to neutralize our first team rapidly, however we believe that are men were able to inflict some serious casualties before being taken prisoner. You'll find new fatigues in the barracks. Change and return, we're getting you armed and shipping you out."

I turned to follow and I was snagged by the back of my shirt. "Where are you going?"

"Oh come on. You didn't allow me to come all the way down here so that I could sit on my ass and wait."

"You're right. I know a lot about you Miss. Plum. I know that you're tenacious and you have an uncanny ability to get yourself in and out of trouble. I also know that you are the person most likely to be able to get my best man out of trouble. Despite that, I need you to know that this mission is dangerous in the best of times and in your condition…"

"I can handle this. I'm sure I've been through worse. I've been kidnapped more times that I can count. I've been beaten and tortured. I've watched while people I love have tortured. I can handle one sleazy South American drug lord."

"Go suit up." I nodded and marched after the last group. The fatigues were slightly different than the ones was wearing. Darker greens, less brown. I pulled on the pants quickly and then the dark green t-shirt. A camo Kevlar vest went over the t-shirt; there was no long sleeved shirt this time. I caught my hair in a messy bun at the bottom of my skull.

I left with the others and the Major General pulled me aside. "Do you know how to shoot a machine gun?"

"No…"

He showed me quickly and it seemed pretty simple. He handed me a stun gun, "I hear you're good with these. This is a just in case measure, It's powerful. I want you to be careful. You're to stay behind the others. Do not get yourself hurt or killed; if Ranger gets out and you're dead he'll kill us all."

I nodded, "Yes sir." Everything was happening so fast and suddenly I was walking with the others to convoy vehicle. We loaded up and spent the ride to the jungle discussing strategy. Well they discussed, I listened and learned. I'd be kept towards the back. I was the last ditch effort basically. If all else failed they were counting on my tenacity to get Ranger out alive. Apparently Ranger was the number one guy; they couldn't afford to lose the best of the best.

It didn't take long for us to get where we were going, but we had another hour or two walk through the jungle. It was hot and my skin was instantly sticky. We walked silently through the forest, drinking water as we went. It was only an hour later when we found the hidden bungalow. There were guards posted around the perimeter. A scout came back telling us there were at least ten guards. Several of the group broke off to get them out of the way silently. I didn't hear anything but all of our people came back and nodded.

The bungalow was large considering it was in the middle of the Columbian jungle. We stalked silently towards the house. I went in the back with a group of five men. Another guard saw us and there was shooting, from where we were and from another area. The guard that had seen us was down. Everyone would know something was up now. It was go time.

I peeled myself away from the group, against orders, and went down an unexplored hallway. I opened doors, ducking low and staying out of if the line of fire. I went through three empty rooms before I found an occupied one.

There was a soldier tied to a chair, his head hanging down limply. My breath caught in my throat. I knew it was Ranger. I couldn't tell if he was breathing. I looked around the room carefully and walked in, shutting the door behind me. I could hear shots ringing out in some other part of the building. I quickly walked over to Ranger and felt for a pulse. It was there, not very strong, but there. I started untying him and he moaned lightly.

"Ranger? Wake up, come on we need to get out of here." His head lifted slightly and he opened his eyes.

"Oh shit. I died. The real you is going to be so pissed." His voice was quiet and slurred.

"You're not dead. I'm the real me. Anything broken?"

Ranger gave me a disbelieving look, "Babe? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Saving your ass. I'll ask one more time, anything broken?" I got his ankles free finally.

Ranger shook his head slightly as if to clear it, "ribs again." I helped him stand up and we walked towards the door, I was taking a good amount of his weight, his legs were asleep. I opened the door, my gun in my hand.

There was a man poised to open the door. I looked quickly to make sure he wasn't one of us and I opened fire. He went down and we stepped over him. Ranger wasn't walking very well and I was half dragging him. Two more goons and a man dressed in a black suit stepped around the corner. I opened fire. All three of them went down. They hadn't even had guns drawn; apparently they hadn't thought there was anyone in this wing of the house. I realized I'd probably just killed a South American drug lord. Go me. I went back the way I came and ran into two soldiers from my unit. They had another injured soldier with them. One of the guys grabbed Rangers other side and we got the hell out of the house. We went through the forest quicker this time, trying to get the men back so we could figure out how hurt they were.

We made it back to the convoy vehicles and set the men down. I dropped to my knees next to Ranger and started checking him out. A medical officer came over and started to help. We cut off his shirt and I cringed. His chest and stomach were badly bruised. He'd been shot in the shoulder. He had some burns on his arms, cuts and burns on his legs. Two black eyes and broken nose. The medical officer said he probably had a broken jaw. He was amazed there was no internal bleeding. If he'd been normal he'd be dead.

The medical officer went to look at the next guy and left me to clean Ranger up. He'd been staring at me and cringed a little when I start rubbing him down with alcohol. I bandaged the cuts that started bleeding and slathered aloe on the burns. I was giving him small sips of water like the medical officer had told me too. I knew the others were communicating with the base and with the others in this unit. More soldiers started arriving. They'd found two more injured soldiers. I was relieved to see Cal among them.

"Babe?" I turned back to Ranger and smiled.

"Hey Ranger. How are you feeling?" I grabbed his hand and squeezed gently.

He smiled lightly at me, "I'm having hallucinations. That's never good."

I laughed, "Ranger, I'm here. I promise it's me. You're going to be okay. Remember you promised you'd come home. I just came to help you keep that promise."

I heard the others talking. "Salvador's dead, we don't know who shot him." There was murmuring. They were loading everyone into the vehicles. I stood.

"I did." Everyone turned to look at me. They'd been impressed I'd gotten Ranger and got us both out alive. They were more impressed now. We got Ranger in the vehicle and took off. I felt like it had been an hour or two since I was in Jersey. In reality it had been over 24 hours.

We got to the base and I followed Ranger to the medical ward. They cleaned him up better and wrapped his ribs. The doctor set his nose and sent him to x-rays and determined that his jaw wasn't broken. They'd given him pain medicine right away and he was out of it. They got him into a room and I sat next to his bed. I fell asleep sitting there, holding his hand. The Major General woke me up and motioned for me to follow him. When we got outside he turned to face me.

"You need to eat and drink some water. Come on." I didn't want to argue so I followed him to the mess hall. I grabbed a tray and loaded it with an apple, some salad, grilled chicken, green beans and potatoes. There were brownies for desert. I ate everything and drank two bottles of water. I was stuffed and very tired.

The Major General sat with me while I ate, not saying a word. When I was done he looked amused.

"You managed to not only rescue Ranger but kill the target. You kept your cool, didn't get shot or even shot at. I have to say I'm impressed."

"Thank you. When can I take him home?"

"The doctor wants to keep him here for another day, but we'll send you out tomorrow morning. You'll be home in 24 hours." I nodded again and walked back to Ranger's room. He was still sleeping and I assumed my former position, arms crossed on the bed, head resting on top, one of my hands holding his.

I'm not sure how long I slept but when I woke up it was light again. Ranger was stroking my hair and I looked up with a grin.

"Hey Ranger. How are you feeling?"

"Babe." He smiled and then shook his head, "I can't believe you managed to talk the Rangers into letting you bust in on a black ops mission."

"I can be persuasive."

"You can be damn scary."

"That too."

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**??!?!**


	37. Abercrombie Hottie

**Extra long chapter! Enjoy! As always thanks for the reviews. Getting me up to 350 gets you another chapter!!!

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I could tell Ranger was holding in a tirade. He wanted to yell and scream but he was thinking it through first. It would be just as bad as one of Joe's Italian lectures but with Ranger's fiery Latino temper.

I sat and waited but he still didn't say anything. He just stared at me. The Major General knocked on the door frame and walked in.

"Good to see that you're okay Lieutenant."

"Yes sir. Thank you," Ranger said.

"Mind if I borrow Ms. Plum for a minute before we get you ready for transport?"

"No, of course not."

I followed The Major General out; we sat on some chairs in the hall way, a few feet from Ranger's door.

"Ms. Plum, I've talked to a few of my superiors, we've looked at your records for catching skips, kidnappings etc. Basically we've gone over you with a fine toothed comb. We want to offer you a contract. It would be along the same lines as Ranger's. We'd be willing to give you a lot of money to handle some sensitive situations for us. Of course we wouldn't be sending you on missions until the babies were born. You'd be doing training at Fort Dix, learning how we operate et cetera. We are impressed with you Ms. Plum and we think you would be an amazing addition to the United States Army."

I looked at him, trying to figure out if he was kidding. He didn't seem to be. They wanted me in the Army?

"Absolutely not." This came from Ranger who was standing in his door way, supporting himself on with the frame.

"Ranger…" I started saying but he cut me off.

"Are you kidding me? Fuck Stephanie. This wasn't enough? This wasn't enough stupidity for you? Flying into the fucking jungle while you're pregnant? Busting into a drug lord's estate? Shooting people? Christ! YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN KILLED! Do you really think I would have wanted to be rescued if you'd been killed? Huh?! DO YOU THINK I COULD HAVE LIVED WITH THAT? I can't stop you from acting like an idiot but I can sure as hell stop you from doing this."

I motioned for the Major General to leave and he nodded once and walked away.

"I couldn't leave you here."

"You damn well could have. You fucking should have. It would be one thing if you weren't pregnant, but to risk the babies? Christ. Steph. God I can't even…if something had happened to you…"

I nodded solemnly. "I'm still going to think about the contract."

"Stephanie." His voice was low, dangerous.

Mine was the same, "Carlos." I stared at him for a minute and when he didn't break I spoke again, "They're identical."

Ranger nodded, "That's great. At least they'll have each other when both their parents get killed doing black ops missions."

"Ranger! God damn it, neither of us will get killed. You don't think I could do this? I couldn't be as good as you? Well fuck Ranger. I know that. You're the best. But maybe I could be good too. Maybe I could do this and not feel like a damn failure."

Ranger sighed and sat down next to me, "Stephanie, you are not a failure. You are an amazing bounty hunter. Yeah I think you could do this, but I don't think I could handle you doing this. I'm just not that strong. I'm trying like hell to finish up my contract alive and get the hell out, and you want to sign one?"

He was right. I'd have babies and I knew I wouldn't want to leave them to go on missions. I sighed and looked at Ranger. "Alright. No contract. Are you okay?"

"No Stephanie. I'm not okay. I'm pissed." He got back up and walked into his room, shutting the door behind him. I had a feeling Ranger wasn't going to forget this for a while.

I talked to the Major General and declined his offer of a contract. He asked about freelance and I said he could always check with me and see. We got everything we needed to taken care of and got Ranger ready for transport. He didn't speak to me as we boarded the plane. Cal was on board as well. Now that I wasn't on a mission I had time to be worried during takeoff.

Ranger's hand grabbed mine and held it tightly.

"Thank you."

"I'm mad Steph, but I still love you. Never doubt that."

I nodded and laid my head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. But you know how you said you couldn't live if I died? Well I feel the same way. I couldn't sit by and do nothing."

"Babe." Ranger slurred the word, his newest dose of pain medication kicking in.

"Go to sleep Ranger, we'll be home soon."

I felt his breathing even and I leaned my chair back, my head still on his shoulder. I put up the armrest and cuddled into his side.

Someone I'd never met woke us up when we landed, this time in Miami.

We disembarked and Ranger waved off the officer who told us when the next military flight to Jersey would be. Ranger said we'd fly commercial. Cal got on the flight to Jersey.

A private dropped us off at a nearby hotel and we checked in. We got to the room and I sighed. Always the best for Ranger.

"Would it be okay if we stayed a few days, maybe visited with Julie?" Ranger asked.

"I think that would be great. Call up Rachael. I'll call Tank, let him know we're okay."

I dialed Tank while Ranger pulled out his own phone.

"Steph?"

"Hey Tank. We're in Miami. I got Ranger back."

"Knew you would Bombshell."

"Yeah I bet. We're going to stay here for a few days. Keep in touch." I hung up without waiting for an answer. I realized I was starting to acquire RangeMan phone skills and shuttered.

"That would be great Rachael. Thank you so much. We'll come pick her up tomorrow morning. Have a good night." Ranger flipped his phone shut and looked at me. "Showers? Food? Sleep?"

"Sounds amazing." I walked into the bathroom and looked back out, "Are you coming?"

"I didn't know if you'd want me to." Ranger said and walked in after me.

He started to undress and I cringed. His whole body was mottled mess of bruises. He started to unwrap his ribs and I protested.

"You want to help me feel better?" I nodded and he motioned me over. "I don't have enough energy to heal my ribs. Mind if I mooch off of you?"

"Of course not. What do I do?" He grabbed my hands and put them on his ribs, covering them with his own. I felt a strange surge of electricity go through me and then I felt like my energy was being zapped. It only took a few seconds and I noticed an immediate improvement in Rangers breathing. I stumbled and fell into his arms.

"Oh shit. Babe, I'm sorry. I took too much." He reached over and turned the taps on the giant tub.

"It's okay, I just need to sit down for a minute. Can we order food?" Ranger nodded and sat me down on the edge of tub. He walked out and came back with a room service menu. I looked through it while Ranger added bubble bath to the tub. I asked for a steak and roasted potatoes. Ranger ordered, adding chicken, rice and vegetables to my order. He asked that the server let himself in and leave the food in the living room and add a $50 tip for the server. He stood me up and undressed me and then himself. He slid us both into the hot water and I moaned. I knew it had to feel ten times better to him. I laid in the water, cradled against his chest. I must've fallen asleep because Ranger nudged me awake.

"Babe? Food's here. Let's wash up and go eat."

"Mmkay." I said. Ranger lathered me up head to toe and rinsed me. He put conditioner in my hair and then lathered himself off. He rinsed us both again and helped me out, wrapping me in lush robe. We sat down at the table I made quick work of my dinner. We got into bed and I wrapped myself around Ranger as closely as I could.

The last few days finally hit me and tears started pouring down my cheeks. "God I was so worried Ranger."

"Shhh its okay, I'm okay." Ranger kissed my tears away and then continued to kiss me softly, murmuring to me in Spanish. He nudged my thighs apart and settled himself in between them. He slid into me gradually, letting me get used to his size. He moved slowly in and out of me, his lips on my ear, still whispering. The pace stayed languid, we moved together working at the same time. Ranger reached between us and rubbed my clit softly, just letting his fingers brush over it. I wrapped my legs around his waist and came within a few more strokes, digging my fingernails into his back. Ranger dropped his head and sucked on my neck as he came. He collapsed on top of me and I ran my hands up and down his back. He scooted off of me, rolling onto his back and pulling me to him.

"Te amo babe."

"Love you too." I nuzzled myself into him and fell asleep.

I woke up to Ranger rubbing my stomach. "You've gotten bigger."

"Mmmhmm. I'm actually wearing my maternity jeans, well, the small ones." I said and looked down. I could look over the swell of my breasts now and see the bump sticking proudly out from between my hips.

"How are our babies?"

"Good. Great in fact. Identical twins! I'm too big for us to hide this; we're going to have to tell Julie." We'd been planning on keeping the babies a secret until after the wedding but obviously that wasn't going to work.

"I told Rachael that you were pregnant last night. She was fine with it; apparently Julie is old enough to know that some people have babies before they get married." Ranger said and shook his head.

We got up and got ready for the day. I pulled on jean shorts with the stretchy waist and added a tank top.

"Babe, you have to be the hottest pregnant woman I've ever seen. You're boobs are huge."

"I had to buy new bras again." I said with a sigh. My boobs ached and I wasn't sure the added size was worth it. I slipped into some flip flops and grabbed my purse. I was ready. Ranger was standing naked watching me. "Ranger? Get dressed?"

"Oh yeah. Sorry." I laughed and watched him put on some shorts and a tank. He grabbed his wallet and followed me out the door. "We need to ask the hotel where we can get a rental car. We'll go get Julie and I thought we could go to the zoo?"

"Great and then we'll go shopping!" I said and Ranger sighed. "Ranger she's a preteen girl. She'll want to shop."

"Alright, you win. Shopping. How about we do that first in case you get tired?"

"Okay."

We got to the desk and the concierge had a car delivered within minutes. Rachael's house was easy to find and she opened the door within seconds of the bell ringing.

"Hello Carlos, Stephanie, congratulations." She was looking at my belly with wide eyes. "Are you sure there is only one in there?"

"Actually, we're sure there are two." I said with a smile.

"Oh wow! Do you know if they're identical or fraternal?"

"Identical," I answered. Rachael smiled and then looked at Ranger closer.

"What happened to your face?" She asked.

Ranger grimaced, "Small incident."

Rachael shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Oh gosh, I'm sorry, come in. Julie should be down in a few minutes. Would you like anything to drink?"

"I'd love some water if it's not too much trouble."

"Of course not, come on, we'll wait in the kitchen." Rachael grabbed me a bottle of water and set out a plate of chocolate chip cookies. I took a cookie one and moaned when I bit into it.

"Sorry. It's very good," I said and they both laughed.

"Thank you. I'm so glad you want to spend some time with Julie. After the incident last year…well, Julie would really like to get to know you, both of you. She asked me if she could spend part of the summer with you. I told her I wasn't sure…"

Ranger spoke up, "Of course she can. We get back from the honeymoon June 30th. She can spend July and August with us if she wants."

"That would be great. Why don't you ask her today? You must be getting excited, the wedding is so close!"

"I am. I thought maybe we'd stay here and take the same flight we have Julie booked on, that way she wouldn't have to fly alone." I said. Ranger looked faintly surprised but happy.

"I'm sure she'd love the extra time with you guys. Can you do that though? Don't you have things to plan?"

"I havea wedding planner who is taking care of everything. It's wonderful." I smiled and Rachael laughed. Julie came downstairs then and said hi. She gave Ranger a hug and then walked over to me. She stopped and stared at my stomach.

"Whoa, are you having a baby?" I looked at Rachael, surprised.

"I didn't tell her, I thought it would be fun to surprise her with the news."

"Actually I'm having two babies; you are going to be a big sister twice!"

Julie hugged me and smiled widely. "This is like so cool. I've always wanted a little sister or brother!"

Ranger laughed and looked at Julie, "I have a favor to ask you." Julie nodded her head vigorously. "Well after Steph and I get back from our honeymoon I'm going to be doing a lot of boring paperwork and I was wondering if you would come stay with us for a couple of months to keep Stephanie company, and to give me something to look forward to and get me through all the dull office stuff?"

"Really dad? That would be great!" I didn't miss that she had called Ranger dad, and neither did Ranger. His eyes lit up.

"Really."

Julie said goodbye to her mom and we promised to return her before nine that night.

"So what are we doing today? Going to the zoo or something?"

"No you're dad is way cooler than that, he wants to take us shopping!"

"Alright!" She hopped into the backseat of the SUV and Ranger gave me a grateful smile. He owed me big time.

"No worries babe, I always pay back my debts." Ranger said in a voice that made me a little wet.

"So am I going to have little brothers or little sisters?" Julie asked from the backseat.

I turned so I could see her a little better, "We're not sure yet. We'll find out while you're visiting!"

"I'm so excited! Is there anywhere to swim near you guys?"

"Yeah we have a pool in the building and there is a pool at my house and we're near the shore."

"Awesome."

What about our house arrest? Was that still going on? We hadn't heard anything from our stalker in weeks.

Ranger glanced at me, "We're going to relax on that a bit. You'll be guarded."

"Guarded from what?" Julie asked.

"You're…uh…Stephanie has a dangerous job, so some of my men keep an eye on her for me."

"Okay. What should I call you?" This was directed at me.

I thought for a second, "You can call me whatever you want. Steph or Stephanie is fine. Whatever you're comfortable with."

She nodded seriously, "But you're going to be my step-mom right? Like Bill is my step-dad?"

"Yep, I sure am."

"Mom says that you are just as much in charge of me as dad is. That means you can give me permission to do stuff. Can I get my ears pierced?" Ranger's eyes snapped over to me and I sat frozen for a second.

"Uh…actually that's probably not such a good idea. That's really a decision that your mom and Ranger and your step-dad should make."

"And you."

"Okay and me. But all of us together."

"Why do you call my dad Ranger?"

"It's a nickname mija. From when I was in the army." Ranger answered.

"Mom says your still in the army and that any woman that would marry you and put up with that must be incredibly brave."

I giggled and Ranger looked somewhat annoyed. "How is school going?"

"Awesome!"

"Really?"

"Yeah Friday was my last day!" We all laughed and Ranger sighed.

"Sorry I should've known that. I've been out of the country, lost track of time." He looked at me suddenly. "What day is it?"

"It's Saturday, June 6th." Ranger looked at me funny but nodded. Obviously he was missing some time. He nodded again. "We're getting married in a week. Julie is booked on a flight leaving Wednesday morning; we can all go back together." I said and Ranger nodded again.

Julie piped in with another question, "When are the babies due?"

"December 27th. Today I am 12 weeks pregnant. But usually twins are born a little early."

"Wow, maybe the babies will be born on Christmas!" Julie said. I smiled. Having Julie around was nice. Like mom practice. We got to the mall and Julie was practically hopping with excitement. Ranger grabbed my hand and we strolled behind her. She didn't ask for anything but Ranger bought her a few things that obviously excited her. We were coming out of a video game store when Julie shrieked. She ran about 20 feet and hugged some girls. We walked over when she motioned for us.

"This is Jill and Tina, they are my best friends! Guys this is my Dad, Carlos and my step-mom, Stephanie, and these are my little brothers or sisters!" She exclaimed, rubbing my tummy when she got to the baby introductions. There was some more girly shrieking and everyone got to rub my belly.

"We're going to Abercrombie now, you want to come?" Jill asked Julie. Julie looked at us and we nodded. We followed the girls who were talking a million miles a minute.

We got to Abercrombie and Ranger narrowed his eyes at the gigantic picture of a shirtless guy on the wall. I used to drool over those guys, now I just look at Ranger. The sales girls were watching Ranger closely and fanning themselves. Poor girls would faint if they saw him without his shirt. They'd die if they saw him without pants.

"Babe." Ranger said with a glance.

"Come on let's play dress up." I said.

"Sure what do you want?"

"Not me silly, you!" Ranger gave me the cocked eyebrow that meant good luck. I grabbed some jeans in his size and some t-shirts and drug him to the dressing room. The attendant looked like she wished she could have gone in the room with him. I waited outside while Ranger mumbled something about how he couldn't wait till the babies were born so I could dress them up.

"Shirt's too small. Time to test your theory babe." The door opened and Ranger stepped out in jeans that were slung low around his waist, they hugged his ass deliciously. He wasn't wearing a shirt. "Miss, do you think you could grab me this in a large? It doesn't fit around my biceps." He handed the girl the shirt and she stood there staring for a second.

"Oh…uh…of course! Of course. A new shirt. Yep. Ok. Be right back." She turned and stumbled off, looking slight dazed.

I giggled, "Now that was just mean." Ranger laughed and Julie and her friends walked around the corner.

"Holy crap. You're dad is a babe," said one of the girls.

I couldn't agree more.

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**THE END (Of Chapter 37)!**


	38. On top of Spaghetti

**I didnt get all my reviews but here you go anyway. I'm holding the next chapter hostage until I get 20!

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I watched as Ranger let out something akin to a yelp and locked himself into the dressing room. Ranger was out within a few minutes, the clothes he'd tried on in his arms. He brought them to the cashier, along with the things Julie wanted and paid. Ranger didn't really strike me as an Abercrombie guy but I sure as hell wasn't complaining. He looked delicious in those jeans.

My cellphone rang as we were walking out of the store. I dug for it in my bag, stumbled and dropped it. Ranger scooped it up and handed it back to me. I watched an old lady give Ranger a look as I flipped it open.

"Hello?"

"Stephanie?! Where have you been? We've been worried sick!" My mother sounded like she'd been tippling. Crap.

"Oh, I uh…I had to go on a business trip with Ranger. I'm fine. We're fine. We're in Miami right now, with Julie. Shopping." I rocked back onto my heals and gave Ranger a please help me look. He didn't help, he grinned. I covered the phone with my hand, "You know Morelli used to give me that exact grin," I said. Ranger dropped the grin. Ranger didn't want to be Morelli. Don't get me wrong, most any other man on the planet would love to be Morelli. But Morelli would be a slight downgrade from Batman.

I realized my mother was still talking to me and I tuned back in. There was something about Grandma Mazur wanting to wear a halter top to the wedding and then something else about Mary Alice wanting to know if she could gallop down the aisle. Cripes. My family is nuts.

"No! No halter tops, no galloping!" I said and flipped my phone shut. Ranger's eyes had a hint of laughter in them. "Can we please go eat?" I asked. I was starving. I needed some pizza. And a Cinnabon.

Ranger got us through the crowds, using his 'don't mess with me' look. I'd have moved out of his way too. Sometimes I forgot that Ranger was scary to most people. Ranger had been scary to me for a long time. I hadn't been scared of him because he looked like he could kill me with one hand, no I'd been scared because I knew he could get me naked with a look. Back when I'd been with Joe that had been a bad…ish… thing. Now, not so much.

"Babe."

"What?" I asked. Ranger shook his head and gave me a small grin. He went to get us our food while Julie and I picked out a table. Julie was playing with my cell phone while we waited when she suddenly looked up.

"Do you think I could come live with you and my dad for a while? Like maybe for the school year?" She asked. Oh god. This was like the ear piercing but could get me in way more trouble. I looked around frantically for Ranger. I couldn't find him. Crap. Okay. Stay calm.

"Um, again, I think that's something that we would all have to talk about together."

"But you wouldn't mind? You'll have the babies and stuff and I wouldn't want to butt in."

"Oh Julie, of course not! I'd love to have you stay with us but your mom had custody. It's something she and your dad and step-dad would need to discuss okay?"

"Okay." Ranger walked back up to us, with a tray of pizza and soda. My pizza looked suspiciously like salad and my soda looked suspiciously like water.

"Hey! This isn't fair! Why do you get pizza and soda?" Ranger grinned and switched our food. "That's better." I took a sip of soda as Julie spoke.

"Stephanie said I could come live with you!" My soda came out of my nose in a spectacular arch. I coughed and Ranger thumped me on the back and gave me some of his water.

"That's not what I said!" I gasped. I didn't want Ranger mad at me again.

Ranger looked to Julie and cocked an eyebrow. "Okay technically she said that it would be fine with her if I came to live with you guys but that you and mom would have to talk about it."

Ranger looked at Julie and then at me, I nodded my head and he grinned. "Stephanie is right, we'd have to talk to your mom. I don't know what she'd say. She loves you an awful lot kid. That being said, I would love for you to come live with us for a while. For as long as you want."

There was a scuffle at a table a few down from ours. Two very large men were arguing, the smaller of the two knocked over the table, sending a plate of spaghetti flying. Right into my face. Ranger was already in action. He jumped over the two tables in between us and tackled the bigger guy. The smaller guy went for him and I took out my stun gun and slid over the tables, leaving a trail of spaghetti. I zapped the guy and he went down, twitching spastically. Ranger was still grappling with the big guy, and though he had the upper hand I gave the guy a few jolts anyway.

Ranger hadn't looked at me yet, he clicked some cuffs into place. "Why'd you do that?" He asked.

"For fun." He looked up at me with a cocked eyebrow and grinned.

"Babe. Why are you always covered in food?"

"Karma?" I asked and Ranger laughed. I looked over to Julie who was grinning wildly. She thought we were awesome. Mall security came to take the two men away. Some wonderful person told them that I had stunned the men and the security guys started to raise a fuss. Ranger stepped in and they quickly changed their minds.

I was getting tired and suggested that they drop me off to take a nap at the hotel and go to the beach. I was trying to give them some time to bond but Julie asked me to please come with. I agreed, figuring I could lay on the beach and nap. We found a store with bathing suits and each bought one. I had to get a large bikini top to contain my new boobs. I was happy when a small bottom still fit, sitting under my bump of course.

We went back to the hotel and changed and walked down to the beach. Ranger lotioned me with SPF 1,000,000. Ok maybe it was only 50 but still. There were lounge chairs for hotel guests and I parked myself on one, my bump sticking up towards the sun.

"Come on babies; let's get you some vitamin D." I rubbed my belly and slid my sunglasses over my eyes. Something poked my arm, I opened my eye to see Ranger sitting next to me.

"What do I do with her?" He asked me quietly.

I blinked at him, "what do you mean?"

"I don't know what to do with her. Do I entertain her? Watch her swim? Swim with her?"

I rolled my eyes and sat up. "Julie? Do you know how to surf?"

"Nope."

"Great, your dad is going to teach you." I looked at Ranger. "There go teach her to surf."

Ranger stood up gracefully and gave me a long kiss. When his tongue touched mine I shuddered as an orgasm rolled over me. Ranger pulled back and gave me a long look.

"Pregnancy makes your libido rise?" I said. I was panting a little and very glad that Julie was off playing in the waves.

"Babe." Yeah. I deserved that babe.

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**REVIEW!!! :) **


	39. What's with tween girls and Twilight?

**By popular demand...Chapter 39!

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The sun was still beating down on me an hour later as I watched Ranger teach Julie to surf. I was getting hot and frankly just a little cranky and I couldn't get to sleep. I needed to go into the water and get cooled off.

I stood up and realized that more than cooling off I needed to pee. I walked back up to the hotel and used the bathroom before returning to the beach. Ranger and Julie were back on the beach and Ranger was talking to a waiter who was pointing at the hotel. Ranger looked over and saw me and came jogging over.

"Babe, don't leave without telling me, I was worried." He said and gave me a hug.

"Sorry. I had to pee. Next time I'll let you know." I smiled and walked to the water, dragging Ranger with me. Julie joined us and we joined forces to attack Ranger. The water was warm and felt amazing against my skin but I was really tired.

"What do you guys say to eating dinner at the hotel before I take you home Julie?" Ranger asked glancing at both of us. We each nodded and scooped our beach supplies up. We carried everything back to the room and changed into our normal clothes. Ranger picked one of the slightly more casual restaurants. I glanced up from my menu and saw Ranger scowling at the waiter who was doing his best to look down my shirt.

"You wanna know how I got these?" I asked and stood up. The waiter's eyes fell to my belly and he stumbled back and left quickly mumbling an apology. Our waitress came over while I was still standing.

"Oh wow congratulations! What are you? About 20 weeks?" She asked and I turned red.

I shook my head, "No, I'm having twins, I'm only at 12 weeks," I answered.

The waitress grinned, congratulated us again and took our orders. Julie started chatting right away and I leaned back to listen to her. She told us about her friends and school and asked what school she would be going to if she came to live with us and then I lost track of what she and Ranger were talking about because I fell asleep.

"Steph? Stephanie?" Ranger's voice was low and slightly amused. I opened my eyes and realized that I was still in the restaurant. Sleeping. In my chair. With my elbow in the butter. Well that's embarrassing.

"Oh, Sorry. I think I fell asleep," I said with a yawn. I wiped off my elbow and Julie giggled.

Ranger's eyes sparkled with silent laughter, "You sure did. The waitress just came to tell us our food would be out in a few minutes. You think you can make it?" He was rubbing my hand as he spoke and I lost my concentration. I managed to make it through the rest of dinner without falling asleep again.

Ranger scooped me up when we were in the lobby and carried me the rest of the way to our room.

"I must be heavy…" I said groggily.

I could feel Ranger chuckle against me, "Not as all babe." He laid me in the bed and kissed me gently. "I'm going to take Julie home, I'll be back soon. Lester and Tank are in the room next door if you need them."

I opened an eye, "When did they get here?" I'd thought I was bodyguard free for a while.

"While you were sleeping during dinner. Now go to sleep, you're exhausted. I shouldn't have let you come to beach."

I started to say something about how he didn't let me do anything but I was asleep before the words could come out. I didn't wake up when Ranger came back but I around two I woke to find Ranger on his stomach with one arm reaching over to me and his hand settled on my belly. I looked at him for a minute, his light mocha colored skin resting against the stark white sheets. Good god he was gorgeous. I drifted back to sleep and didn't wake up again until the sun was shining.

I realized I'd been woken up my Ranger yelling at Tank. Uh oh. I got up and took care of Mother Nature quickly. I pulled on some jeans scowling at the waist panel that actually had to stretch now and shrugged on a tank top. The door to the living room was closed but I didn't think I needed permission to go out so I just opened it.

Ranger was arguing with Tank in a low voice but stopped when I came out. Tank however didn't stop.

"You know I love Bombshell but what the hell do you want me to do? She doesn't listen to me! And I'm not going to handcuff her to a damn bathroom fixture." Tank said, waving his arms a little.

I was behind him and I got a small amount of satisfaction when he jumped slightly as I talked, "Well thank you Tank!"

"Morning bombshell. How are the little ones today?"

"Bigger I think." I pulled up my tank top and Tanks eyes widened.

"Cripes you've been gone less than a week. Wow are those stretch marks?" I pulled the top down quickly and scowled.

"No! I don't have stretch marks!" I pulled out the room service menu to order and Ranger went over our plan for the rest of the week. He'd gotten the four of us tickets on Julie's flight. We had a few more days here before we left.

We took a trip up to Disney World and Sea World. We swam with dolphins (although Lester steadfastly refused to do that). Before we knew it we were at the airport saying goodbye to Rachael.

Ranger had talked to Rachael about Julie staying with us for the school year in addition to the summer and to my surprise Rachael thought it would be a great idea. Julie was over the moon excited. Tank and Lester had looked surprised by the news and maybe a little worried. Here they were just getting used to the thought of babies in six months and now we were throwing an almost teenage girl into the mix.

Diesel was waiting for us at the airport, looking somewhat pissy.

"Yeah call me pissy. You took off for the jungle without telling me! I got in trouble! I'm like grounded!"

"Ranger grounded you?"

"No! Not Ranger! The unmentionable head honchos!" Diesel said. I couldn't help but smile. Diesel was rocking a fauxhawk and tight jeans with a t-shirt advertising The Cure. Diesel looked yummy.

An image of Diesel in just the fauxhawk passed through my head. Wow.

"Babe."

"What? I didn't do that! He did!" I pointed to Diesel and both men grinned. They were just giving me shit. Great.

Diesel was introduced to Julie who stared at him with wide eyes for a minute. We were on our way home when Lula called me.

"Stephanie! Are you back? Tank said you would be back today! I have the craziest story to tell you. Last night I was at the office late and I heard a commotion right? So I look out the window and Morelli is running up the street with no pants on! He was chasing bob who had some photo album lookin thing in his mouth. Isn't that somethin?

I sat for a second stumped. "What?" I finally asked. I must've heard her wrong. "No pants? Was he naked?"

"No he had on boxers and sneakers."

"Oh okay." Then it dawned on me, the photo album. "Oh my god!" Last year I'd let Joe take a bunch of naked pictures of me. He'd plied me with booze and I was weak willed. I hung up on Lula without saying goodbye and dialed Joe.

"Morelli."

I think the gist of what I managed to get out was, "JOE! BOB! PICTURES! AHHH" before Ranger grabbed the phone from me.

"Morelli I want those pictures."

I heard Joe say something along the lines of "Get your own damn pictures" and then he hung up on Ranger.

"What pictures?" Everyone in the car turned to look at Julie.

"Uh…pictures of me from high school, when I had bad hair."

"Okay." She didn't quite look like she believed me. I glanced at Ranger who just shook his head.

"Okay so tomorrow we have final fittings for our wedding outfits. Bridesmaids, groomsmen, flower girls, ring bearers. I have to choose who's walking with who. Julie who do you want to walk with? You can walk with any of the RangeMan men or your uncle or Diesel.

"I want to walk with Diesel." Julie said quietly. Ranger sighed; I didn't have to read minds to know what he was thinking. It was something very close to "Oh crap." Something squashed against my bladder suddenly.

"I need to pee!"

Tank was driving and he looked back "We'll be to RangeMan in thirty minutes Steph."

"No I need to go now." I said urgently.

"You can't wait thirty minutes?"

"I can't wait five minutes! Ranger! Make him stop!"

"Tank." Ranger said. Tank sighed and pulled off at the next exit. Apparently we were back on high alert because Ranger came into the bathroom with me.

"Are you kidding me?" I asked.

"Sorry Babe." He said and leaned against the sink.

What could I do? He wouldn't leave and I had to pee. We'd never done the whole peeing in front of each other thing. Normally I'd have issues peeing with him in the same room. But I was pretty sure that I had a foot sticking into my bladder and so I didn't have any trouble at all. I finished up and washed my hands, Ranger smirking. We walked back to the car.

"A foot in your bladder huh?" Ranger asked. "That doesn't sound comfy."

"Oh it's not so bad. Just pressure. It'll be interesting when they're bigger. Speaking of which, we have our next appointment on Friday. We'll have another one to find out their gender after the honeymoon. Where are we going?"

"To the RangeMan building?" Ranger said with a raised eyebrow.

I sighed; he wouldn't tell me where we were going on the honeymoon. "I meant on the honeymoon." Ranger only laughed.

We got to the RangeMan building and showed Julie around. She was going to be staying in the guest room.

"So how do you want to decorate it?" Ranger asked her.

She looked at him funny for a second, "It is decorated."

"Well it's decorated to be a guest room, but now it's your room. That means you get to decorate it. I bet Stephanie could help you pick out stuff online to have delivered."

"Awesome!" We booted up the computer in the office and I helped her pick out a complete bedroom and bathroom. $15k later along with a call to Pottery Barn Teen from Ranger and we'd have everything by tomorrow afternoon. Ranger didn't even blink an eye at the total.

The three of us had a yummy dinner made by Ella and then watched Twilight in the living room. I'll admit it; I'd seen the movie when it was in theatres. I wanted to read the books but hadn't had time yet.

"Hey Ranger?"

"Yeah babe?" He didn't look all that intrigued by the movie but Julie's eyes didn't once leave the screen.

"Can I get a Kindle?" Before he could ask I explained, "Its Amazon's EBook reader."

"Babe you don't have to ask. I mean if you feel the need to buy a vacation home I'd like you to run it by me but just get whatever else you want or need." He said. I cuddled up closer to him and sighed. This was great, Julie was splayed out on the floor, we were cuddling on the couch, it was like a real family. "We are a real family babe." Ranger whispered in my ear. He sucked on my earlobe gently and I bit my lip to keep from moaning.

I leaned over to whisper to Ranger, "I need you." He bit my ear and whispered back.

"Soon babe, the movie is almost over and then its bed time for the kiddo."

The movie was soon over and we shepherded Julie off to bed, letting her know we'd be in the gym early but that someone who be here in case she needed something.

"Who's going to be here?" I asked as we walked into the bedroom.

"Diesel. Apparently his orders were to watch our kids, and he found out that meant Julie too." He was taking my clothes off faster than I ever would have been able too.

"Does that mean…?"

"Mmhm." Ranger laid me down on the bed and spread my legs. Then he made me forget what I was going to ask next. Hell he made me forget how to speak.

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**Review for more. I need 375 to post another chapter...**


	40. I Like Boys that Sparkle

**OMG! Chapter 40!!! WOOT! Thanks for the reviews!!!

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When I woke up in the morning someone was knocking on the door. I looked over to Ranger's side of the bed and found no Ranger. I struggled to sit up. "Come in."

Julie opened the door and skittered to the bed and crawled in. "Dad told me to wake you up at nine so we wouldn't be late for dress shopping. He said we're leaving at ten."

"Ok sweetie, let's take showers and we'll scrounge up something for breakfast. Your bathroom should be stocked, do you need anything?"

"No, I should be fine thanks." She left and I got up and went pee and took a quick shower. I went to look at my clothes and sighed. I didn't have many things that fit anymore. I pulled on some white Capri leggings and a billowy blue strapless dress. I did quick hair and makeup and slid on some flip flops. I went to the kitchen and found Julie and Ella chatting. I sat and took a bite of my eggs. Oh crap. I was going to get sick. The bathroom was too far. The sink was closer. I made a beeline for the sink and threw up until my throat hurt.

I heard the elevator open and someone pulled my hair out of the way and rubbed my back. I was assuming it was Ranger but when I was done I looked up to find Diesel. "Thanks." I croaked.

"No problem Steph. You okay now?" He went to the fridge and grabbed me a bottle of water. I swished my mouth out and washed out the sink with hot water and soap. I went to brush my teeth and Diesel followed me.

"What's with the new punk look?" He was rockin the fauxhawk again. His jeans were tight, his shirt was painted on and said 'I Effed the Volvo Driving Soccer Mom'. I sighed, "Go change your shirt before Julie sees it!" He popped out and popped back in without a shirt on but with two in his hands. He held up a black shirt that said 'Bounty Hunter' on it and one that said 'I Like Boys that Sparkle.'

Julie walked into the bathroom and her eyes got really wide. Diesel turned to her and held up the shirts. "Pick."

"Oh the Twilight one!" She said.

It was Twilight? That figured. Diesel shrugged on the shirt and I grinned. Only Diesel. There was a street bike jacket on the counter and he picked it up.

"I'm riding to Manhattan; I'll see you guys there." He kissed my cheek and ruffled Julie's hair.

"He's hot."

"He's old enough to be your dad!" I might have been fudging a little. Diesel was twenty-five according to his driver's license. He might really be 526, I had no idea. "Come on, we better head down, we're late."

We met the MerryMen in the garage. Ranger was nowhere to be found. "I'll go get him." I said and took the elevator back. I stopped in the control center and asked the new guy where Ranger was. I was told he was in his office.

The door was closed so I knocked and didn't get a response. I was getting ready to turn back around when Ranger opened the door and yanked me inside. He pushed me against the door and it slammed into place behind me.

"We have maybe five minutes until they get suspicious. Ten before someone comes to look." He said. My heart was pumping and I was already wet.

Ranger yanked down my leggings and panties. He let the cargos he was wearing drop and hitched my legs around his waist. He slammed me up against the door again and slid into me in one motion. His angle was perfect for hitting my g-spot. After a minute he used one hand to hold me and used the other to rub my clit hard and fast. I screamed into his shoulder as I clenched around him. My orgasm caused Ranger to come too and he dug his fingers into my thighs as he gave a few last hard thrusts into me and let himself go.

He lowered me to my feet and handed me some tissues from his desk. I cleaned up really quick and slid my panties and leggings back on as Ranger did up his cargos.

"Well that was fun."

"That was too quick. I'm going to keep you on the edge for hours later." He said and opened his office door. We walked to the elevator and got a few looks as we stepped off. Tank coughed and I went to walk over to him. Ranger grabbed my hand. "Babe, your skirt…" I looked down. My skirt was tucked into my leggings. Oops. I pulled it out and grinned sheepishly. We piled into a few SUV's and took off for Manhattan. Julie talked nonstop to the men, peppering them with questions which they answered as succinctly as possible. I didn't learn a whole lot more about them, even after an hour of Julie's questions. Julie turned to me before we got to Saks.

"What kind of cake are you having?" Oh yum, cake. I needed cake.

"Dark chocolate cake with chocolate butter cream frosting for one layer. There's a pineapple upside-down layer, red velvet layer and a vanilla bean with raspberry covered in vanilla bean icing. All the layers are covered in fondant though so they look the same."

"Wow." Her eyes were as wide as they were this morning when she saw Diesel shirtless.

"What?" This came from Ranger.

I ignored him for now. It wasn't the time or place. "I know, I'm pretty sure it's going to be amazing."

We finally pulled up to Saks and since Ranger was in the car we got a parking space right in front.

The fittings went great except the part where the seamstress tried to convince me to wear some type of corset to reign in my baby bump. I politely declined.

We let Julie decide where to eat lunch and she picked a place with a million things on the menu and awesome desserts. Julie seemed to have fun getting to know her aunts and uncle. She was in awe of Lula. Truthfully everyone was in awe of Lula today. She was wearing 4 inch heels, a skin tight pairs of jeans and a tank top with buttons that were threatening to pop from the strain her breasts were putting on them.

She was also in awe of Diesel and his bike. It was a Ducati and I had to admit it made me a little wet just to look at it.

I contained myself and ordered just one dessert. Diesels looked pretty good though. Hmm.

"Diesel can I try a bite of that?" He held up a spoon and I licked it clean. "Oh god that's good." He gave me another bite and then another. I looked at Diesels plate. Crap. "Where did your dessert go?

"I just fed it all to you." He said with a smirk. Oh. Right. Oh well, two desserts wasn't horrible. I had two babies after all. In truth I probably should have had three desserts. One for each of us.

"Babe." Ranger hadn't gotten dessert. "What's the point? You just would have eaten it."

"That _is_ the point Ranger," I said in a huffy voice. "I have to pee again. Who's on 'watch Stephanie pee duty?'" I asked sarcastically. Tank stood up. "Oh no! I was kidding!" I walked to the bathroom quickly and stopped at the door. "You wait out here!" I peed as quickly as possible; I didn't want to risk Tank checking on me.

When I sat down I gave Ranger a very dirty look. Lula piped up during the middle of my mental battle with Ranger. I wasn't sure if we were playing the don't laugh game or the don't blink game. Ranger was winning both in any case.

"So Stephanie, your shower and bachelorette parties are tomorrow." Lula said casually. I choked on my Pepsi.

"Oh…uh…we're not doing that? I mean the shower should've been weeks ago, so we should just skip it." I said hopefully.

"Oh yes we are, and its starts right after your doctor appointment. We would have had it weeks ago but things have been a little crazy. So it's tomorrow. Don't worry the shower is small and the bachelorette party is smaller."

"Fine." I looked at Tank, "Does he get a bachelor party?"

"Yup," Tank said with a smile. Ranger looked a little scared, I didn't know why. A RangeMan bachelor party wasn't nearly as scary as a Lula bachelorette party.

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**Hmm lets say...get me to 400 for another chapter. A good chapter! Doctors appointment, wedding shower, bachelor/bachelorette parties! **


	41. The Treasure Hunt

**Look! You got me to 400 reviews and I give you a chapter! Everyone's happy. Although someone did cheat, and I must say that will not be tolerated in the future!**

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My appointment was early the next morning and I was half asleep when the three, well, five of us got to the doctor's office. Dr. Jacobson had a tech draw some blood and take all my vitals. I cringed when I saw that I had gained another two pounds.

"That's fine Stephanie; you're expecting twins after all. Let's go see those babies! We'll try to see if we can hear heartbeats today," she said with a grin.

I laid down on the table, pulled up my shirt and folded down the top of my pants a little to expose my bump. Julie was in the room, we wanted her to see a picture of her baby siblings. Dr. Jacobson squirted some cold gel on my tummy and swirled the wand on it. I could identify the image on the screen now. Two little sacs with two little tiny babies. The babies were positioned like a little ying yang symbol. We pointed out baby A and baby B to Julie and she squealed when baby B started squirming around. That woke up baby A and we watched them reposition themselves and then be still again.

Dr. Jacobson grabbed the fetal Doppler and pressed it to my stomach. The babies' heartbeats were loud and strong and made both Ranger and I smile. Dr. Jacobson turned off the machine and wiped off my belly. I sat up and lowered my shirt.

She pulled up a chair and sat down. "Alright Stephanie, everything looks good except your blood sugar is a little high. I need you to tone down the sweets. Eat very healthy for the next few weeks and we'll see where you're at next appointment okay?"

I nodded, "Can I eat my wedding cake tomorrow?"

"Of course. One piece though, I'll be keeping my eye on you." She smiled at me. And we got up to leave, "I'll see you two tomorrow."

Ranger took me home to change for my shower. Julie would be coming with me and going home with my mom, grandma and the girls for the night. I slipped on a dress that while wasn't a maternity one still fit because it was supposed to hang really loose. Instead it hugged my bump nicely and then flared out around my hips.

I really had no idea what to expect but Lula had had said it would be small, for which I was very relieved. I went to kiss Ranger goodbye but he chucked, "not so fast. Lula is being very modern, we're having a couples shower. We're all coming, the whole wedding party. It's at the house."

"I still can't believe you're telling people where the batcave is."

"Well the actual batcave will remain a secret. I'd hate for your Grannie or Lula to get their hands on some of those toys." Ranger said with a grin. He was right. It would be downright scary.

The three of us plus Diesel and a good percentage of the Merry Men loaded in several SUV's and headed to our house. Julie hadn't been there and was excited. When we pulled up I gasped. There were cars lining the street, lining the gigantic driveway, cars everywhere. This was not small. This was huge! I was going to kill Lula. We had to park several blocks away. We walked to the house and let ourselves inside. Ella was there and told us that everyone was in the 'great room'.

"We have a great room?"

"Yep. Luckily. It opens onto the deck." We followed Ella to the room the party was being held in and I shook my head, there were at least 75 people there. Lula came up to me and smiled.

"I'm going to kill you Lula."

"Oh come on Stephanie, this is great. Look at all the people here who love you! And we have good food. Ranger said to put 'no gifts please' on the invite. He said you all didn't need anything. Can you believe that? Doesn't matter though, everyone brought something anyway."

I sighed, "Ranger's right, we don't need anything."

"Don't be rude Stephanie. Come on, let's go mingle." I mingled for an hour, ate some yummy appetizers and then I was told it was time to sit down and open gifts. I made sure to exclaim over the gifts that I didn't need. It took me a long time to open them all. Afterwards I got a million hugs and promises of "see you tomorrow" and most everyone cleared out besides the people who were invited to the bachelor/bachelorette parties.

I was getting progressively more worried about this whole bachelorette party thing. I glanced around looking at everyone who was still here. "Grandma? Are you coming to my party?"

"Of course! I wouldn't miss this! There might be men in nothing more than ding-a-ling holders!" God I hoped not. Once you'd seen the likes of Joe Morelli, Diesel (even if it was only a mental picture) and Batman naked, nothing much else compared.

The men went to leave and I walked up to Ranger and gave him a long sultry kiss, "Behave yourself Carlos." I licked his ear after whispering in it. Tank grabbed his arm and yanked him away. I noticed 3 of the newer MerryMen still in the room. "You guys are going to miss your ride…"

"We're your body guards for tonight. Mr. Manoso would really be mad if his bride was kidnapped the night before your wedding." Ah, of course. Well they'd have fun following us around I was sure.

Lula had kept this part of the party small. Val, May Lou, Connie, and Rangers sisters, plus grandma were the only people here. Ella had declined to come, I was guessing the thought of a Lula endorsed party scared her too.

Lula handed me a box and I opened it to find a short slutty wedding dress and a veil. There were white stockings and garters along with a corset top and a tutu style skirt.

"You've got to be kidding me." I saw the three inch heals next and sighed. Crap.

"Come on everyone, time to get changed!" Lula ordered. I went up to the bedroom and got into the dress. I had to admit; even with the baby bump I looked damn good. I got downstairs and choked on my own saliva. Everyone was wearing matching slutty outfits but in the colors of my bridesmaids dresses. Even grandma Mazur. Cripes. The MerryMen were now wearing suits, ear pieces and dark sunglasses. I'd look like I was royalty. Or a First Family member. I really wished I could drink.

We walked outside and I sighed. A white stretch hummer limousine was now in the driveway. Of course, if Lula was planning this, and probably with Ranger's money, it was going to be big. I smiled and climbed in. What else was there to do?

Our first stop was a sex toy shop. Eak. Apparently we were going to play a game where everyone buys me something dirty. Yay? My secret service agents looked very uncomfortable.

I was given vibrators, edible undies, massage oils, all sorts of stuff. The sad part was that Ranger and I's sex life was amazing without it all but whatever. Grandma was holding a Herbert Horsecock and I went over to her and shook my head, "I already have one of those." Everyone turned to look at me. "What? Lula made me get it!" Everyone nodded and took their purchases for me to the checkout counter. We took our loot back to the limo where everyone gave me my presents.

Lula pulled out a clipboard. She handed me a piece of paper, "This is your treasure hunt list for tonight. You have to do all of this stuff." I looked at the list and my eyes bugged out of my head a little.

Kiss a guy. (A good kiss).

Get a guy's underwear.

Get a girl to kiss you.

Get a girl's underwear.

Steal a shot glass.

Give a lap dance.

Get a lap dance.

Do a sexy dance (on stage or on a table).

Sing a sexy song.

Flash someone.

I looked at Lula, "No way." I said.

"You do this or tomorrow or I show everyone the naked pictures of you that Bob dropped in front of the office."

Cripes, "Fine. I'll do the list." We got to the first bar and I ordered a gin and tonic, no gin. It would be a lot easier to get things marked off if the guys thought I was drunk. I'd done distractions enough times for Ranger to know how to work a guy into doing something I wanted. The only difference was that at least now I could pick the mark. One that didn't make me want to puke.

I walked over to a cute guy at the bar and tapped his shoulder, "Hi. You're awful cute and I have to kiss someone for my bachelorette check list. Would you like to help me get something off that list?"

"Sure hot stuff." I looked back at our table and winked. The guy grabbed me around the waist and brought his lips to mine. He backed me up into the bar and slipped his tongue into my mouth. I gave it a minute and then pulled away. There were cat calls coming from a table in the corner. Someone spoke to my right.

"Ranger is not going to like that one bit Cupcake." Joe said. I turned away from check number one to face check number two.

"Joe! I couldn't be happier to see you."

"Oh shit. Why?"

"I need underwear."

Joe grabbed my little tutu skirt and looked under it. "You're wearing underwear cupcake."

"No I need men's underwear for my check list. And having your underwear is slightly less disgusting then having someone else's." Joe laughed and motioned for me to follow him. I waited outside the bathroom and when Joe came out and he tossed me his boxers.

Joe walked over to me and backed me up against the wall. I'll admit it, my heart started pounding a little. He pressed himself against me and kissed me like there was no tomorrow. I guess because for me and Joe, there wasn't. "Just one for the road Cupcake. Be Happy." He walked off and I walked back to my table kind of dazed and holding his boxers.

"Check one and two off the list please!" I sat down and smiled.

"Yeah put a double check mark next to one." Lula said with a grin.

"He kissed me! It was a goodbye kiss I guess. Told me to be happy."

Everyone nodded and looked thoughtful for a moment. Maybe they expected me to be sad but I was getting Batman. There was no way to be sad about that. The girls were already a few drinks in so I grabbed an empty shot glass and slipped it into my purse.

Lula stood up, "Ok on to the next place!" We trouped back to the limo and got in. No one was too sloshed yet. The next place we went to was a karaoke bar. I groaned. Well I could get another two things off of my list.

We went in and I ordered another fake drink. Everyone else ordered more real drinks. I went up and told the guy in charge of Karaoke what I wanted to sing. The opening chords to Genie in a Bottle came on. I started to dance and sing and a few rowdy guys came up to me and stuffed bills in my corset top. I did my sexiest dance and I think I sang it pretty good too. I made about 50 bucks. The other girls took turns singing while I sat and rested my feet. Lula marked off 8 and 9 from the list. There was a cute girl at the bar and I walked up to her impulsively.

"Can you help me check something off of my 'bachelorette list'?" She nodded so I leaned in and kissed her. No tongue. Lula checked off number 3.

We got back to the limo and Lula smiled wickedly.

"So we knew that Ranger had probably ruined you for all other men, so we decided to be a little more adventurous with our strip club choice."

We walked in and I raised my eyebrows. The dancers were women. The secret service agents looked pleased. We found a table and Lula handed out bundles of one. Everyone was now sloshed enough to where this was super fun. We watched the dances for a little while, tipping generously.

One of the girls tossed her underwear over her shoulder and I snuck them into my bag. A larger group came in making a lot of noise and I looked up and smiled. I sauntered up to the person in front and opened my corset for a second. "Check off 10 Lula!"

Ranger grabbed me and pulled me up to him. "Babe. You're not supposed to be drinking." He said with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm perfectly sober. It was on my list of things to do." I said with a smile. The guys joined us and Ranger grabbed Lula's clipboard. I tried to make a grab for it but he read it and then looked at me.

"You kissed two guys? And got underwear?"

"Mmhmm. Quite the accomplishment."

"Who were the lucky men?" Ranger asked. I didn't say anything. Ranger looked at Lula who was about five sheets to the wind.

"Some guy we didn't know and then Joe was the second kiss and gave her his underwear."

Ranger went still and looked me, "You kissed Joe? And got his underwear?"

"No! Joe kissed me and gave me his underwear. I didn't even like it."

Ranger grinned and kissed me hard. "Let's see what else we can get crossed off this list babe." He motioned over a girl that even I could see was hot. She bent over him and he whispered in her ear. She giggled and walked over to me. She straddled me and her breasts were pushed into my face. She shimmy, shook and grinded herself all over me.

I glanced at Ranger and grinned, "Only one left. I got one, now I get to give one!" I said and Ranger grinned big. "Too bad I already flashed you and you can only do one per person." I stood up and walked over to Diesel. I preformed a version of the lap dance I had just gotten much to his delight. When I looked at Ranger again he was still grinning and then he shook his head a bit.

"Dude you just got a lap dance from a pregnant woman." Ranger said.

"You know that kind of ruins it." Diesel said. I noticed that while all the other guys seemed as trashed as my bridesmaids (including grandma), Ranger and Diesel were completely sober.

"Good metabolism."

"Ah." I leaned over and whispered in Ranger's ear. "I am so wet right now. I think we should head home." Ranger glanced up at me and gave Tank the 'nod' and off we went.

I was going to have me some slutty pre-wedding sex.

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**I bet it would have been better with a drunk Stephanie but for now, no can do. So what do you think? Ok, you get a new chapter as soon as I'm done, but I'd appreciate knowing if I'm on the right track! :)**


	42. The Slutty PreWedding Sex

**Hello! Short chapter, just a gap filler. I put in some good smut to lessen the blow. :) Enjoy! **

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Ranger and I climbed the limo the girls and I had been in and Ranger directed the driver back to our house. He rolled up the privacy window and I climbed on top of him. "I don't think I can wait until we're home." I said. I kissed him, sliding my tongue into his mouth. I reached down and tugged on the button on his pants until it popped off. I unzipped the zipper and got his pants down his legs. He was going commando. He stripped off my corset and the ballerina tutu. His jacket and shirt came off next. He was naked and I was just in my underwear and garters. He pulled me against him so I could feel his hard length pushed against me.

"You know the first time I saw you naked I never thought this would be happening. Well the getting married part." Ranger said.

"Mmm well the first time you saw me naked I was handcuffed to my shower curtain. And you certainly weren't looking for someone to marry. Especially not me." I said.

"No, I wasn't looking for it. But I knew that night. That was when I knew I wanted you. Forever. You were this amazing woman who could get herself in and out of trouble, and when you couldn't get yourself out of it, you trusted me to help." Ranger's words made me all teary eyed.

Ranger spotted the bags from the sex toy store and grinned. He lifted my off of him and grabbed one. He pulled out a huge vibrator and wiggled his eyes brows at me. He grabbed my ankles and pulled me down a little, spreading my legs. He pulled my panties to the side and ran the vibe over slit a few times before turning it on. It was super powerful and made me jerk my hips. He brought it to my clit and hooooo boy. My hips jerked off the seat again. He used his hand like a vice on my thigh to keep me down. He got the toy good and wet and then slide it in my between my folds, teasing me. He turned me so I was bent over the seat. He got on his knees on the floor behind me and slid himself inside of me.

"We're going to be home in about ten minutes." He started fucking me hard and fast, slamming his dick into me again and again. I was clawing at the leather seats. I knew time was flying by and I could tell Ranger was getting close. So was I but I knew there wouldn't be time. "I need you to come babe." He reached around and held the vibrator to my clit and turned it back on and then to full power. My whole body jerked spastically as my pussy clamped down on him and spasmed around him over and over. He came with my pussy still milking him. I was basking in the afterglow when he pulled out of me. I turned and watched him pull his pants on. It was one of those things that I would watch a million more times but still find incredibly sexy.

My only option for clothes was the stupid corset. I'd rather go naked. That thing hurt.

"Babe." He tossed me his shirt and I shrugged it on and buttoned it, it was long enough to hit me mid-thigh. It would work. He stuffed his jacket and my outfit into one of the bags as the car stopped in front of our house. The driver opened the door and politely looked away as I got out. Ranger thanked him and handed him a really generous tip.

"Mmm, even carrying my bags in. Quite gentlemanly considering you just fucked me senseless in the back of a limo." I said with a grin.

"As if you ever had any sense…" Ranger said in a very serious voice before grinning back at me.

"I'm starving."

"Its midnight babe, Ella is sleeping. What do you want? I'll make it."

"Roast and mashed potatoes."

"Try again." Damn, I hadn't thought that would work but I had to try.

I grinned, "grilled cheese."

"Okay. I can do that." Ranger opened up the fridge and started taking thing out. I sat at the breakfast bar and watched. He dropped a hunk of cheese in Rex's cage. I'd never seen Ranger cook before, barring the burned steaks, and it was quite interesting. He moved like he knew his way around the kitchen. God he's gorgeous. The shirtless wonder. "Thought I was Batman?"

"You can't be both?"

"I suppose so." He slid the plate in front of me. "Eat up, big day tomorrow." I nodded. Yup. Tomorrow was the day. My feet went a little numb and I looked down. Huh. I'd always thought cold feet were a metaphor. I really wanted to marry Ranger. I did. But I was a little worried. I mean he was _Ranger_ and I was…me…

"Which is exactly why I want you. You're amazing babe. And you make me very happy. Now let's go upstairs, I'll warm those feet up for you." I couldn't help but grin. I knew what would warm me up. "Babe. I'm not a machine."

I looked down, "You're hard."

Ranger looked down, "well, yeah, I'm not a machine but I am Batman. Apparently this is an unknown superpower." I giggled and Ranger swept me up. I started to protest. "I'm practicing," Ranger said.

He laid me in the bed and this time we were passionate and slow and made love for hours. "You get to become Batwoman in a few hours." He said he we laid together afterwards.

"I'm pretty sure Batwoman is a lesbian now a days." I said.

"Huh. Well you did pretty well with that stripper…"

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**I'd appreciate and thoughts and/or feelings you might have. Anything special you want to happen at the wedding??? **


	43. Kiwi

**Finally! The wedding!!! Enjoy! Oh, I have new story up. It's also a babe fic, but starts out kind of dark. It's called Someday, Somewhere. Give it a read and let me know what you think please!!**

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I heard the music start and I glanced around anxiously. The wedding party was lined up before me in a long column and my dad was holding my arm. The wedding planner opened the back doors and I gasped. The backyard had been transformed. There was a long silk gossamer runner going from the door, down the strep and onto the law. There were a few hundred chairs set up, adorned with ribbons and bright tropical flowers. At the end of the runner was a cabana also decked out in the tropical flowers. The flower girls started walking down the aisle dropping whole flowers and petals. The ring bearers followed and then the procession of bridesmaids and groomsmen began.

Lula and Tank started walking and my dad urged me forward. Ranger was standing at the end of the aisle looking like something out of GQ. I smiled and walked down the steps, everyone standing and looking at me. I barely made out their faces. I couldn't take my eyes off of Ranger.

I got to the gazebo and my dad put my hand in Ranger's and we turned to face the priest. I didn't listen much as the priest talked; mostly I stared in Ranger's eyes. But then it was time for our vows. We had decided to keep it short and simple and just speak from our hearts.

"There are very few things in my life that I'm absolutely sure about, and you are one of them. I can't even imagine where I'd be without you. Actually, yes I can, I'd be trapped in a box or drowned in a cranberry bog. The point is that you save my every day, in so many ways. I love you Ranger and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you."

"I've loved you for a long time Stephanie, longer than most anyone knows. I love your spunk and your stubbornness and the fact that you would do anything for someone you care about. It makes me so happy to be one of those people. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life rescuing you from cranberry bogs. I love you babe."

"Carlos, please repeat after me, _'I Ricardo Carlos Manoso, take you, Stephanie Michelle Plum to be my lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health for as long as we both shall live.'_

"I Ricardo Carlos Manoso, take you, Stephanie Michelle Plum to be my amazing, beautiful, brave wife." I smiled at his additions. "To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health for as long as we both shall live."

"Stephanie if you'll repeat after me, _'I Stephanie Michelle Plum, take you, Ricardo Carlos Manoso to be my lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health for as long as we both shall live.'_

"I Stephanie Michelle Plum, take you, Ricardo Carlos Manoso to be my Batman…uh I mean husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health for as long as we both shall live."

Ranger slid a platinum band on my finger as I slide one onto his. I threw myself into his arms and he kissed me hard, I heard laughing and the priest cleared his throat, "Not yet!" Oops. We stepped away from each other and looked at the priest.

"With the power invested in me by the state of New Jersey I now pronounce you husband and wife." He looked at us, "Now you may kiss your bride!" Ranger's lips came back down to mine amid clapping and cheering. We kissed until the catcalls started. We were surrounded by our friends and family and passed around for hugs.

Ranger looked at me, "We're married babe."

"Bout damn time!" I said with a grin. He kissed me again and we walked over to the huge gossamer tent with all of our friends and family. The DJ already had music playing. Dinner was served and as it started to get dark a million twinkle lights lit the backyard.

We were called out for our first dance and Ranger drug me out to the dance floor.

_I could stay awake just to hear you breathing _

_Watch you smile while you are sleeping _

_Far away and dreaming _

_I could spend my life in this sweet surrender _

_I could stay lost in this moment forever _

_Well, every moment spent with you _

_Is a moment I treasure_

I laid my head on Ranger's shoulder and we danced slowly until the song was over.

"You know, after seeing that kiss I think I might have a song that's slightly more appropriate for these two," the DJ announced. A new song came on, it was a Maroon 5 song that I'd heard on the CD I had but never really listened too. We started dancing and after a minute I laughed.

_I wanna give you something better_

_Than anything you've ever had_

_A stronger and a faster lover_

_The world, it disappears so fast_

_Sweet kiwi_

_Your juices dripping down my chin_

_So please, let me_

_Don't stop it before it begins_

_So give it up, and don't pretend_

_And spread your arms and legs across the bed_

_And when you shake, you won't regret_

_The things I whisper in your ear_

"Ranger this song is really dirty."

He smiled and whispered to me, "I know it's making me want to take my wife and do some very dirty things." I giggled and we danced to a few more songs. Ranger finally let other people dance with me. Diesel was first in line and I laughed as we danced and Diesel sang along to 'If you Like Pina Coladas' and then 'Sittin on the Dock of the Bay'. Ranger and I did our daddy daughter and mother son dances.

I was dancing with Ranger again when Joe came up behind him and tapped his shoulder. "You mind if I cut in?" Ranger nodded and kissed me.

"I'm watching you Morelli." Ranger said with a grin.

I wrapped my arms around Joe's neck, "You came."

"You invited me."

"I'm glad." A new song started and I laid my head on Joe's chest as we swayed to the music.

_I can hear her say "I love you" like it was yesterday_

_And I can see it written on her face that she had never felt this way_

_One day I thought I'd see her with her daddy by her side_

_And violins would play Here Comes The Bride_

_But here comes goodbye_

_Here comes the last time_

_Here comes the start of every sleepless night_

_The first of every tear I'm gonna cry_

_Here comes the pain_

_Here comes me wishing things had never changed_

_And she was right here in my arms tonight_

_But here comes goodbye_

The song ended and I glanced up at Joe with a smirk, "The first time something works out perfectly and it's our goodbye song."

Joe grinned back, "Gotta love irony. I hope you're very happy Cupcake. You know I'm always around if you need something." Joe kissed my cheek and walked away. Ranger was back at my side within a second.

"You're good. I didn't even see you ask the DJ to play that." I said to Ranger.

"Oh babe, you have no idea how good I can be." Ranger said in a husky voice. "Or how bad." I glanced down to make sure my doodah hadn't caught my wedding dress on fire. Lester came by and stole me for a dance and then it was cake time.

Ranger smashed a small piece into my mouth but I grabbed a huge chunk and smeared it on his face. He looked so surprised that I laughed. I stood on my tip toes and licked some cake off his jaw line. "Oh my god, best cake ever!" I said

The cake was passed around and everyone ate happily. Tank stood up and tapped his glass to get everyone's attention. "I've been told that as best man I have to give a speech, well I'm not very good at them but here it goes. I've know Ranger for a long time and never in a million years did I think he would meet a woman who would be able to keep up or put up with him. Well Bomber is that woman. In the few years I've known her she's amazed me countless times, and I can't imagine a better match for my best friend. I love you both and wish you years of happiness, hopefully without too many blown up cars." Everyone clapped and I shook my head. It had been weeks since I'd blown up a car. Jeez.

Lula was next. "Well, there is a lot I could say about my girl Stephanie and Mr. Hot ass over there. Most important though is that I'm glad you two finally got your heads on straight and got together. You're going to have an amazing life together. Filled with many steamy nights. And mornings. And afternoons." I giggled into Ranger's shoulder.

A few dances later and it was getting late and it was time for us to take off. First though Ranger got to take off my garter. He put his head up my skirt and pulled it down with his teeth, much to the delight of the crowd. He tossed it into the group of men and Tank caught it. I think he almost fainted.

I stood at the top of the stairs and tossed my bouquet backwards over my head. I heard Lula say something along the lines of "get out of my way bitch." And knew by her holler that she had caught it.

I laughed and we said goodbye to everyone, promising to see Julie in two weeks when she came back for good. There was limo waiting for us out front but Ranger stopped me on the front steps and kissed me. He was just picking me up bridal style when the limo exploded, sending flaming debris everywhere. Ranger shielded me with his body and I had a flashback to the last time this had happened. He stood up as people started to stream out of the house, shouting.

Diesel and Mooner stood beside me while Ranger talked to the men. I wanted to take back my thought about not having blown up a car in weeks.

"Yeah you thought to soon Steph."

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**Alright, did I pull off a romantic but not too cheesy wedding? Come on! Tell me what you think! :)**


	44. Mr & Mrs Manoso

It was almost dawn by the time the fire department, police and bomb squad left. They checked every other car at the house before letting people leave. No other car had a bomb. I guess I was just lucky that way.

I was sitting on the front steps watching Ranger talk to the last officer. Diesel came and took a seat next to me. "Hey Steph. Have a good wedding?"

"Yeah it was great until someone tried to kill us again. Now we missed our flight and I bet Ranger is in a grumpy mood. He hates when people try to blow me up."

"Yeah that part sucks. On the plus side I got another text when it happened, we know the system works." He said with a grin. I rolled my eyes. Ranger walked up to us and helped me off the step. I had changed into regular clothes a few hours ago.

"You wanna sleep now, or sleep on the way?" He asked me. I spent a minute looking at him. He some scruffy facial hair going on and his hair was all messed up from him running his hand through it repeatedly. He had lost his jacket and vest somewhere along the way and his shirt was un-tucked and unbuttoned a little. He was a very sexy hot mess. "Babe?"

"On the way. I think all of our clothes blew up though." I said with a frown.

"Come on lets go repack. We can always buy stuff there." He grabbed my hand and led me inside. We packed quickly, just a few basics. Ranger packed everything from shorts and jeans to a sweatshirt so I did the same. I grabbed my extra prenatal vitamins, popped one and then added them to my bag. I was set. We stopped at the Batcave and Ranger armed himself to the gills. He strapped a holster onto me and gave me a gun. He put a stun gun and some mace into my bag.

"We can't take this stuff on the plane," I said. Ranger grinned and shook his head. Apparently, I didn't have to worry about that. Julie was sleeping so we slipped out of the house and got into the Turbo. We drove for a bit and then Ranger pulled into the parking lot of for the small airport. For private planes. I looked at Ranger and he answered my look with a grin.

"Ranger…I don't know about this…"

"You trust me?"

"Yeah. I don't know if I trust the pilot of whatever teeny tiny plane were about to get on though." He grinned again and pulled into a private hanger that he remoted open.

"Stay here for a minute. I'll be right back. Ranger got out and talked to a man standing by a single engine plane. Well we couldn't be going too far. I hoped. Ranger came and got me and then loaded our bags.

"So what's the range on one of these things?" Please let it be like a hundred miles.

"Oh we could get all the way to Cuba easy." Cuba? Wasn't there some sort of embargo? We couldn't go to Cuba could we? "We're not going to Cuba. Now come on, it's almost take off time." I looked around for the pilot but didn't see anyone. Ranger opened the door for me and boosted me up into the front seat. He belted me in and shut the door.

"Uh I want to sit in the back with you." I said as he opened the door on the other side of the plane.

"I'm not sitting in the back babe." I thought about that for a second. Oh my god.

"You can fly a plane?" Is there anything this man can't do?

"Well we're about to find out." I looked at him sharply and he laughed. "Kidding babe, yeah I can fly. I love to fly in fact. Remember, you said you trusted me."

Damn he was right, I had said that. "Alright." Ranger pushed buttons and flipped switches and I felt the plane rumble to life. He handed me a headset like I'd worn on the helicopter during my brief special ops stint and then put on his own. Soon we were taxiing out of the hanger and onto the runway. I closed my eyes as Ranger cleared us for takeoff and before I knew it, we were in the air.

"So…this plane looks brand new…how long has it been since you flew?"

"Couple of weeks, I took this guy out for the first time when I bought it. I had a smaller Cessna with a smaller range before. I fly a lot." Ranger said with a grin. "Don't worry Mrs. Manoso, you're safe." I grinned; I liked the sound of Mrs. Manoso.

The flight wasn't nearly as bad as I expected, although it was pretty long. Ranger kept me distracted by showing me the basics of flying. I knew from the instruments that we were heading roughly south and I got excited when we started going over the water. A while later Ranger told me we would be landing and I got prepared. Which basically consisted of me psyching myself out.

The landing went smooth and we were greeted by some very nice people, one of which unloaded our bags and the other who hopped in the plane and taxied it away. The person who took out our bags introduced himself as Jackson. He took us to a limo and I raised my eyes at Ranger but climbed in.

The ride wasn't too long, we were still a bit away when I realized exactly where we were. Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas.

"I spent a lot of time considering Paris or Rome or Athens, but I remembered you telling me how much you wanted to come here." I remembered that conversation too, the place had always looked amazing to me and I had wanted to come for a very long time. I giggled as we pulled up. A bellhop took our bags and Ranger walked me inside. He went to the front desk. The receptionist looked like she wanted to eat Ranger. I didn't blame her.

"Mr. and Mrs. Manoso," Ranger said to the girl. Her grin faded slightly. She looked us up on her computer and her smile came back.

"Congratulations! We have your suite ready for you, Eddie will show you to your room. Have a great honeymoon." Eddie did indeed show us to our room which was on the top floor.

"Welcome to the presidential suite Mr. and Mrs. Manoso, please let us know if there is anything you require during your stay. I was gawking at the room but still noticed Ranger pass the guy a huge tip.

I started to tell Ranger that it was too much but swept me up to carry me over the threshold. He walked through the living room and then into the bedroom. He set me down on the bed and then crawled on top of me.

"I'd like to make love to my wife now," Ranger whispered huskily into my ear. I licked his jaw and tugged on his belt. Oooh boy. I was going to love this honeymoon business.


	45. The Honeymoon

**Yep, another new chapter! Whoohoo! R&R my lovelies.

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I woke up and grinned, looking at my husband, who was already up and dressed for the day. We hadn't left the room since we got here, and apparently Ranger felt today was going to be the day because he was wearing shorts and a lovely, tight wifebeater style black tank. He returned my grin and brought be a cup of coffee.

"God I love you," I said and took a drink. "So are we actually going out today?"

"Yeah, I figured we can have sex at home, we can only enjoy the Bahamas while were here. What do you say we go take a look at all the fish?" He asked me.

I drank more coffee, wishing it wasn't decaf. "Yeah that sounds good, Let me shower real quick." I hopped out of bed. Well, I attempted to hop, in reality I sort of heaved myself out. I was at thirteen and a half weeks and getting bigger every day. I felt like a whale. Ranger said it was hardly noticeable. He wasn't that good of a liar.

"Babe!" I yelped and turned around. He'd followed me into the bathroom.

"Cripes, can I have a moment please? I do have two babies pressing on my bladder here." I said with a sarcastic look. Ranger bent down and laid a kiss on my belly and then left, shutting the door behind him. I took care of business and then started the shower. Everything was fine until I go to shave my legs. I have trouble reaching my ankles. I finally did some acrobatics and got everything all nice and smooth. I rinsed out my conditioner and turned off the water, reaching for a towel at the same time.

Twenty minutes later I'm as ready as I'm going to get, dressed in short shorts that aren't maternity but are low enough to where they'll button bellow my belly just fine. My tank top barely meets the waistband and my boobs are busting out but there isn't much I can do about that. I need new clothes.

Ranger seemed to like my outfit. He looked me up and down with a naughty grin. "Babe."

"Come on, let's go. I don't even see how you can find me sexy when I look like a walrus."

"Steph you're very sexy." He grabbed his wallet and shoved it into his back pocket.

There are literally a million different things to do and see, we spend a while walking around looking at all the exhibits of fish before I decided I want to swim. Ranger took me back up to the room so I could change. I pulled on my bikini bottoms and I was glad they fit, but the top wouldn't hold my boobs. I looked up to find Ranger, who is on the verge of cracking up.

"It's not funny!" I said, trying to figure out how to make it work, but it was a lost cause. I sighed in defeat and got back into my regular clothes so we could go to the shops and find me a new suit. I grabbed a cute pink one piece that had the stomach cut out, the top and bottom only connect down one side. It looked good and managed, barely, to contain my chest. The cutout is cute, even with the preggo belly. I also got a regular bikini that the sales lady told me is good for women with large busts. Wow. I have officially big boobs now.

Finally we got to go swimming and the water was clear aqua and gorgeous. I could see fish darting around and I couldn't wait to go snorkeling again. I drug Ranger over to the slides so we could have some fun.

"Stephanie I don't know if this is safe…"

"Oh its fine, we'll ask the lifeguard to make sure though." The lifeguard sided with me and I rode the slide several times before convincing Ranger to come with me. I settled between his legs and we slid down together, Ranger's hands on my belly like he was afraid it might fly off.

The rest of the honeymoon follows this pattern, sun and water during the day, hot sex at night. Okay and sometimes during the day too.

I woke up on our last day and groaned, "Do we have to go back to Trenton?" I asked Ranger.

He nodded and stroked my stomach, "You have an appointment tomorrow. I'm very proud of you by the way, you've been eating very well."

"Anything for the little guys." I said and rolled to straddle Ranger. He's hard and I'm ready. I tilt my hips and oh god this never gets old. I move myself slowly, not able to go any faster anymore. I'm at 15 weeks today.

Ranger's hands find my hips, "You think they are boys?" He asked as he helped me settled into a nice rhythm.

"I dunno. Maybe. Oh god that feels good. Don't' stop."

"You're the one doing it babe." He's right I am. I keep making the same motion until I'm trembling and can barely move. Ranger moves so I'm on my side facing him with one of my legs over his hip and he picks up the pace, careful not to hit my cervix. His hand reaches down and finds my clit and I buck against him. My orgasm overpowers me and my walls clench around him as he spills into me at the same time.

Ranger doesn't want to fly at night and manages to get me up and dressed in some shorts with a stretchy waist and long tank top.

The limo takes us back to the small airport and I sigh as we climb onto the plane.

"Hey we'll come back. Just think how much fun Julie and the babies will have." Ranger says with a grin. I can picture the five of here and it makes me smile too. Ranger takes off and I realized I'm not even nervous this time.

"You trust me." Ranger said with a nod my direction. I nodded and laid my head back with a yawn. My eyes closed on their own accord. I jolted awake and looked at Ranger panicked.

"Babe?" I looked around and realized everything was fine.

"I'm fine. I don't know what woke me up." Ranger reached over and squeezed my hand. We talked for the rest of the flight and I found that I was glad to be going home. "Can we go to my parents for dinner? The timing is perfect."

"Sure babe." We land a car was waiting for us. My mother and grandma had used whatever strange sense they had to predict me coming to see them and were waiting for me when we got there.

"Holy moly Steph! Did you swallow a cantaloupe?" Grandma said and poked at my belly.

"Hey!" I rubbed my belly gently, "Don't you listen, you get as big as you can so you're nice and healthy when you come out." I gave hugs to mom and grandma and walked into the living room. Diesel was watching TV with my dad. "Hey daddy, hey Diesel."

My dad's head snapped over to Diesel, "When did you get here?"

Diesel grinned, "Popped in a while ago." My dad nodded and went back to watching the game. Diesel stood and followed Ranger and I to the kitchen. He patted my belly, "Hello little ones. Did you have fun in the Bahamas?" Diesel was transmitting a small bit electricity through me as he touched my belly. I raised an eyebrow, "It's okay Steph. We're just talking." I shook my head and looked at Ranger who rolled his eyes at Diesel.

My mom offered drinks and I got to have water. Bah. I wanted something with sugar. Ranger had water of course, his body was back to being a temple. Diesel was drinking a Pepsi. I eyed his Pepsi when he sat it down. I grabbed it when no one was looking at me and gulped it down.

"Babe." Ranger said. Diesel was looking at me like I was crazy.

"I'm sorry. I cracked. I couldn't take it anymore. No caffeine! No sugar! Low cholesterol! It's driving me crazy. I need a damn donut." Everyone looked at me with wide eyes, "Don't just stand there! Someone get me a donut!" I screeched. No one was going to get me a donut. Damn I'd done this whole eating healthy thing for too long. I sighed and slumped into a chair.

"It's for the babies babe. You can have as many donuts as you want as soon as they're born okay? Twenty-three to twenty-five weeks left." Ranger gave me a look that made me sigh.

"Yeah. I can do that. The longer the better right? Twenty-five weeks." Probably I wouldn't know if I had feet or not by then. We sat down for dinner and I noticed that my mom gave me a very small portion. "I'm eating for three here!" She gave me more chicken and vegetables. I sighed again. "Are you and Ranger in cahoots now? What's for dessert?"

"I didn't make dessert," She said and looked away from me. Liar.

"You did. You always do. And you didn't know I would be here. So you made dessert. Its pineapple upside-down cake isn't it? Oh god." I ate some chicken to take my mind off of the pineapple upside-down cake. Everyone was looking at me, "Don't look at me that way. I'm not half as bad as Val, and I'm having two babies."

Everyone nodded in agreement. "She almost ate us out of house and home." Grandma said. "So how was the honeymoon? Lots of sex?" I almost choked on my chicken.

"We swam with dolphins." I said and then my mother changed the subject. By the end of dinner I was only half awake.

"I'm going to get her home before she falls asleep at the table. Thank you for dinner Mrs. Plum, Mr. Plum."

"Call us Mom and Dad." My mother said. My dad didn't look to happy about that. "Or at least by our first names," she amended quickly.

We said goodbye and Diesel followed us to the car. He eyed the turbo for a moment. "I'm just gonna pop. See you guys tomorrow." Pop and he was gone.

I looked at Ranger, "How come you never shimmer anywhere?"

"I'm not a show off like Diesel." I gave him a look. "Ok fine, one time I shimmied and left all my hair behind." I smiled but kept my giggle to myself.

"Maybe you should just practice more," I suggested.

"Maybe. Tomorrow we start teaching you Spanish. I've got a computer program I want you to try while I do work stuff."

"Okay." I fell asleep halfway back to Harrington Street. I woke up to Ranger lifting my out of the car. He carried me bridal style to the elevator and then carried me to our bed. He peeled off my shorts and tank top, took off my bra and pulled the sheets over me. "This is one of the many reasons I love you Ranger." My words were slurred.

"You ever gonna call me Carlos?" He asked in low voice as he got undressed.

"Probably not." Ranger laughed as he climbed in beside me and pulled me to him.

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**Give me some love babes!**


	46. And the gender is

**Time to find out the sex of the babies!**

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The next day dawned bright and early which I was just fine with. I was excited to find out the sex of the babies. I woke up before Ranger and sat up cross legged on the bed and watched him sleep. I watched his eyelids flutter open and he ran a hand through his hair. "Dios babe. Don't do that. It's creepy."

"Sorry. Come on, get up! We have a doctor's appointment," I said, bouncing a little.

"Babe the appointment isn't until 2pm. It's only…" Ranger trailed off to look at the clock, "Babe it's only 7am. What are you doing up?" He rolled out of bed and went to put some workout clothes on; I followed, putting on my Juicy maternity track suit.

"I dunno. I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep, so I watched you sleep."

"Mmm, well I'm glad to see that you're channeling your inner stalker." He kissed me on the head and we got onto the elevator. When we got to the gym I put on my pregnancy yoga DVD while Ranger jumped on the treadmill. A few poses later I turned off the DVD and got on the other treadmill. Ranger was jogging at a million miles an hour, I turned mine onto to two miles an hour to start. It was getting hard to stay balanced with the belly and boobs in front and not much in the back. I saw Ranger stop out of the corner of my eye and felt him step behind me. He reached around and turned off my machine. I turned to face him and he brought his lips down to mine.

"You wanna go upstairs?" He whispered huskily into my ear. I bit my lip and nodded. We went upstairs and Ranger picked me up to carry me into our room. He laid me down on the bed and stripped off my clothes and then his own. Ranger naked was something I would never get used to. He pulled my ass to the edge of the bed and closed my legs, pulled them so they lay in a line up his body and to his shoulder. He pushed himself into me slowly, the position made me very tight around him and I could see the pleasure on his face as he entered me. He fucked me slowly at first until I was begging him for more. He slowly bent my legs back towards me until he was rubbing my g-spot as he pushed himself into me. My moans became louder as he started to fuck me harder. My orgasm came on quickly, one second it was building slowly and the next I was bucking and my hands were fisted into the sheets and I was screaming as my pussy clenched around Ranger. He groaned and spilled inside me, his nails digging into my thighs. He collapsed next to me and kissed my shoulder.

"Dios I love you babe."

"I love you too Ranger."

"Take a nap while I shower. I'll wake you up in time to get ready for our appointment." Ranger laid a kiss on my forehead and I curled up into a ball around my stomach and fell asleep.

I woke up on my own and went in search of Ranger. He wasn't in the apartment so I figured he was in his office. I showered quickly and got ready, pulling on a tunic, leggings and some flip flops. I took the elevator down and walked into the office. I greeted the guys and talked with them for a moment. I was joking around with Hal when Bobby walked over.

"Bomber…uh…do you know you're wearing two different colored shoes?" I looked down and craned my neck to see over my stomach. Huh. One pink flip flop, one purple. Crap. It wasn't that I couldn't see my feet if I tried, it was just that I couldn't glance down and see them anymore. I sighed, walked to Ranger's office and leaned against the door frame. He looked up right away.

"Babe. Come sit down, I'm just looking at schools for Julie."

"Oh, how's that going?"

"Good, but I need your opinion. There are a few I like; this one has great academics and a lot of different activities and sports." I walked behind him and he got up and made me sit down. I surfed the school's website. It was a private school and looked really nice.

"It looks great." I clicked on the tuition page and almost passed out. "$30,000 a year for middle school?" I asked Ranger.

"If she's going to be here, then we're going to do it right. The twins could go here too. Its pre-k through 12."

I smiled, "You are a great dad Ranger."

"And you are currently a wonderful step-mom and you are going to be the best mommy ever." He brushed a kiss across my forehead. "We need to go though."

"Oooh! Come on!" Ranger helped me stand and we took the elevator down to the garage. There were already two RangeMan vehicles full of bodyguards. Ugh. I hated this.

"We made some headway. The last bomb had a fingerprint. Wasn't in the database and that eliminates a lot of people babe. Whoever is doing this is getting sloppier. We'll get them soon. Meanwhile I don't want you to worry. The men will keep you and the babies safe."

"Okay. Teach me some Spanish."

"Uh…like what?"

"How do I say, "donut please?"

"Un buñuelo por favor."

"Okay." I started babbling to Ranger about different things, filing the word for donut in the back of my head. We got to the doctor's office and rode the elevator, flanked by Bobby and Hal. The nurse drew some blood and took my weight and measurements. I was measuring about two weeks ahead of where I should be. The nurse said that was fine, babies grow at different rates, and big babies were fine. Dr. Jacobson came in and got me settled in for the ultrasound. We were watched the babies do some acrobatics on the screen.

"So did you want to know the sex today?" She asked with a big smile.

I nodded, "Yes very much so."

"Well I'm happy to tell you that you're having identical twin girls."

Ranger and I smiled at each other like idiots while she pulled out the Doppler to listen to heartbeats.

"The heart beats are strong, the babies are growing wonderfully. How did you do on you're no sugar rule for the past two weeks?"

"She did great. Except for last night. She stole a Pepsi and chugged it down."

"There was only a quarter can left," I said, giving Ranger a dirty look.

"Unfortunately a Pepsi wouldn't be responsible for the test results we got back. You definitely have high blood sugar. Also, your blood pressure is high. With twins you're much more likely to develop both gestational diabetes and preeclampsia. I want to see you again in two weeks. No sugar, stay off your feet, relax. No heavy physical activities. That includes sex."

I looked at Ranger horrified. He smiled and squeezed my hand. "It's okay Steph, it's only two weeks."

I sat up and we left with a list of do's and don'ts from Dr. Jacobson. I rubbed my stomach absentmindedly. When we got back to the building Ranger wanted me to go upstairs while he went to the airport to pick up Julie but I talked him into letting me do some searches.

"Hey not so skinny little white girl, what's happening?" Lula was standing in my door way, dressed like it was St. Patrick's day in all green.

"Lula! What's up, what brings you here?" I asked.

"We're missing you at the bonds office girl, you ever coming back?"

I stood up to show Lula my belly, "Not for a while. I'm on light duty. No fun stuff. We're even banned from sex for a while."

"Ouch. Damn. That's bad. You got a man like Ranger and can't boff him? Unh huh. Not good."

"I know it sucks."

"Uh, Steph? You know you got two different colored flip flops on?" Lula asked.

"Well fuck me." I said and slapped my forehead.

"That costs extra," Lula said with a grin.

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**More soon. Review please. Let me know if I'm still doing okay!**


	47. Break In

**A little action! Enjoy!!!

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My two weeks of light duty passed amazingly slow, even with Julie around to keep me company. I did searches and floated around the pool. I ate super healthy and did yoga. Ranger gave me back and foot rubs, watched TV with us and took us out to do various activities that didn't include too much actual physical activity for me. The fourth of July was spent on the RangeMan roof watching fireworks and grilling steaks and chicken.

Our week 17 appointment was a little different from the last one; we did blood tests but no ultrasound this time. My measurements were good, still on the large side of normal. Dr. Jacobson came in and sat down in front of Ranger and I.

"Stephanie I'm not seeing any improvement in your blood sugar or blood pressure. Neither of them are high enough to where I want you to worry, but I do want to see what another week of taking it easy does. I also want you to start a log of your daily activities and foods. Also put in things like emotional spikes, bathroom breaks. Anything along those lines, okay?"

"Alright." I looked at Ranger worried.

"Stephanie, really, this is normal and we're just being precautious okay?"

I nodded and Ranger rubbed my back as we walked to the car. "We need to start thinking of names Babe."

"We sure do. Top five names off the top of your head?"

"Uh…Jessica, Abby, Ashley, Nicole and Angela," Ranger said as he helped me into the car.

"Yeah, you don't get to name them."

"Okay, what names do you like?"

"Kaden, Piper, Kaelin, Blaire, London, Blake, Kenzie, Skye, Keeran, Parker, Kierian, Riley, Kai, Adair, Ainsley, Leighton, Sawyer, Havana, Daniela, Savannah…I could go on…"

"Wow…that's a lot. Havana?" Ranger asked.

"It's pretty, and I thought you might like it."

"I do like it. Let's keep it on the short list. No Skye. I liked Kai and Kaden. Blake, Piper, Parker and Kaelin are all good too. Daniela is a common Cuban name, I like it."

For the next week we spent a majority of our time deciding on names. Julie liked both Havana and Daniela, but we weren't sure if they were going to be middle or first names. My journal was filling up quickly and Ranger was proud of how healthy I was eating. I wasn't even complaining about the lack of refined sugar.

Today I was doing some searches while Diesel took Julie to the zoo. They had become fast friends, most likely because they acted about the same age. I was in the middle of a very in depth search when I felt a small jolt in my abdomen. "Oh!" It was like what I imagined having an angry butterfly stuck in my uterus might feel similar to. It stopped after a moment.

I leaned back with my feet on my desk and my hands on my stomach. I closed my eyes and concentrated but I didn't feel anything else. I sensed Ranger before he touched me. He walked over and sat on my desk, picking up my bare feet and massaging them lightly.

"Mm, that feels nice."

"Well I figured you must need to relax if you're napping the middle of the day."

"I wasn't napping, I was trying to feel the babies move again. One of them moved a little bit ago."

"Wow, that's great Babe.

"I know, there's really something in here." I patted my belly and smiled at my husband.

"We have to get going babe, if we're late to the doctor she won't be able to make us wait for half an hour," Ranger said with a wink. I laughed and Ranger helped me stand. Ranger was obviously slightly psychic because we did end up having to wait to see the doctor. Today after the blood draw and all that stuff we got to see the babies again. They were moving around but I couldn't feel it right now. I gave Dr. Jacobson my journal to read and she went over it with us and said everything looked normal and that I was doing great with my diet.

"I have good news, your blood sugar was lower today, and so was your blood pressure. I want you to keep doing what you're doing as far as diet, but you can feel free to resume normal, uh, physical activities." Dr. Jacobson gave me a smile and a wink.

"Do you have any information on birthing classes?" Ranger asked. Dr. Jacobson gave us several different pamphlets to read as well as information on the hospital's birthing rooms. Ranger asked if there were any other options in the area. Dr. Jacobson told us about a new state of the art birth center that had just opened in New York. Apparently their NICU was the best on the east coast. Ranger wanted to look into it, only the best for his babies, and babe.

Ranger's cell rang on our way home and he answered with his requisite "Yo." He glanced at me and the executed a u-turn. "I'll be right there. You sure no one is inside? Okay." He hung up and glanced at me. We have an alarm going off at a building. Motion detectors have nothing though, you okay with coming along?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Ranger drove to a tall building and hopped out of the car. "Keep the doors locked."

"Wait! You can't go in alone."

"Its fine, there's no one in there."

"If its fine then you won't mind me going in too," I said. Ranger sighed and motioned for me to get out. He handed me his gun and another magically appeared from somewhere for him.

"You stay behind me. I'm only doing this because knowing your luck I'd come back to find the car and you stolen." I followed Ranger to the building; the glass on the front door was broken. I followed Ranger room to room as he cleared them. We were leaving the third room when we heard the noise, both of us whirled to see a man jump out of a cabinet in the corner. Ranger pushed me behind him and the man got a shot off, hitting Ranger and sending him careering into the door jam. I shot the guy in his arm and he went down swearing, dropping his gun in the process. I grabbed my stun gun out of my bag and zapped the guy as I kicked his gun away. I handcuffed him to the file cabinet and ran back to Ranger who was kind of slumped against the door.

I dialed 911 as I checked Ranger over. He'd been hit in the shoulder. He repeated the address for me to give to 911 and then smiled at me when I hung up. "Babe I think you just saved my life."

"You would have been fine." I pressed my hand down on his shoulder to stop the bleeding. It wasn't very bad.

"No he would have shot me again and I'm not wearing a vest."

"We'll it was good to get that out of my system. Doing nothing has been driving me nuts."

"Only you would be bugged that you weren't shooting enough people Babe." Ranger shook his head and then winced as I pressed down tighter on his arm.

One of the babies squirmed and it caught me by surprise. "Oh." Ranger raised an eyebrow. "I think someone is worried about their daddy."

"Christ you bitch, I'm bleeding to death over here!" I looked over at the intruder and walked over to him.

"I'm sorry, let me help." I turned my stun gun up a notch and pressed it to his leg. I gave a contented sigh as he slumped over.

"Babe."

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**Okay, so go ahead and vote on baby names!**


	48. Ranger Gets Doped Up

**Enjoy!

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I followed the ambulance to the hospital in bad mood. I'd gotten in the Porsche and pushed the button that would automatically adjust everything to my normal settings. When the seat was done adjusting my belly was pressing against the steering wheel. I pressed the button to move the seat back a little and sighed. I got a parking spot close to the ER entrance; a byproduct of being married to Ranger was that that his parking luck had rubbed off on me.

The nurse at the admitting desk looked bored and completely uninterested. I stood in front of her and she finally looked up.

"Yes?"

"My husband, Carlos Manoso, just got brought in, can I see him?"

"I don't have a Carlos Manoso."

"Ricardo Carlos Manoso?"

"Can I see your ID?" I got out my new drivers license and showed it to her. She pushed a button and a door to my right opened. "Room C to your right." I walked down the hall and opened up room C. Ranger was being stitched up by a doctor.

"Babe!"

"I gave him some happy juice. He'll be out of it for a while. Bullet went straight through, minimal damage. He's got a couple other old wounds in this area; he needs to be more careful." The doctor was swiping some bactine over the stitched skin.

"Yes he does. Ranger? I'm going to go check in with Eddie about the skip, I'll be right back okay?"

"Yup. Are you okay? You shouldn't be stressed." He looked at the doctor, "She's having twins and she's been on light activity because she had high blood pressure. Maybe you should check her." The doctor wrapped the shoulder in gauze.

The doctor turned to me and I sighed. I knew that look. It was the look that meant he was taking my doped up husband seriously. "I'm fine, not stressed at all."

"It would make me and your husband feel better if you'd just let me take your blood pressure?"

"Fine." I sat down on the edge of Rangers bed and the doctor wrapped a pressure cuff around my arm.

He finished up and stood, "Why don't you stay here and I'll be right back." That didn't sound good. I looked at Ranger but he was sort of glassy eyed and staring off into the distance. Whatever the doctor had severely affected his temple. The doctor came back in with an ultrasound and fetal Doppler. "I just want to take a quick look, okay?" I nodded and the doctor had Ranger sit in the chair. I laid down and rucked up my shirt. The doctor coated me with gel and turned on the machine. He pressed the Doppler against my stomach first and I heard the reassuring sound of their heart beats. He put the ultrasound wand on my stomach and the babies came up on screen. They were both moving around.

"Alright, I don't see any signs of fetal distress but your blood pressure is high. Probably from the stress of seeing him shot. I want to admit you for the time being and put a fetal monitor on you okay?" I looked at him, not quite understanding.

"But the babies are okay."

"The babies look okay now, but your heart rate and blood pressure are very high Mrs. Manoso, that could send the babies into distress."

"Okay, so hook me up and calm me down." Now I was outwardly panicking.

"Stephanie, calm down. All three of you are going to be just fine. Who can I call to come keep an eye on him?" the doctor asked and nodded his head at Ranger who was staring at a poster on the wall, completely oblivious.

"What did you give him?"

"A good dose of pain killers. He should be out cold."

"Yeah Ranger is like that sometimes, that which would kill a normal man…Uh, I'll call someone to come in." The doctor nodded and left, presumably to get me my fetal monitor. I called Tank.

"Hey we had some trouble, Ranger got shot. He's fine but a little out of it."

"You need someone to come get you two?"

"Uh actually I'm being admitted. They want to put me on a fetal monitor."

"The little Bombers okay?"

"Yeah, for now, but my blood pressure is high…so…well anyway the doc wants someone here to keep an eye on Ranger until the drugs go out of his system. He's acting like he's completely oblivious. Which he might be."

"I'm already on my way Bombshell." Tank disconnected.

"Ranger?" He whipped his head around.

"Yeah babe?" He walked over to me and gave me an odd look. "Why are you laying down? I'm the one who got shot."

"Ranger, my blood pressure is high, they're going to put me on a fetal monitor."

"Are you okay?" I could tell he was trying to stay focused but the meds weren't letting him. Before I could answer the doctor walked in with a nurse and they hooked me up to a few things. Ranger stayed by me holding my hand and I could see his eyes gradually becoming clearer. His metabolism worked faster than a normal person's.

Tank came in after a few minutes and looked me over and then looked at Ranger. "I'm going to take him to get some fresh air okay?" I nodded and Tank led Ranger out of the room. I watched the fetal monitor carefully, not detecting any changes. Half an hour later Tank came in with Ranger who was wearing his blank face. He walked over to me and rubbed my belly near the monitor.

"I'm sorry Steph. I shouldn't have let him give me any medicine."

"It's fine, I'm fine. No changes in the babies at all. And my blood pressure has gone down. I bet the doctor will let me go home as soon as he comes back to check on me." Ranger nodded and rubbed a thumb over my stomach. My heart monitor spiked and Ranger gave me a look. "You're turning me on. We haven't had sex in weeks." Ranger grinned and Tank turned a dark shade of crimson. "How is your shoulder feeling?" I asked.

Ranger shrugged and grimaced, "Okay, unless I shrug." He stroked my stomach and made me shiver. My heart rate increased again. The doctor stepped back into my room and smiled. He looked over the outputs from both my monitor and the fetal monitor.

"Alright, everything looks much better. I'm recommending you take it easy until your next OBGYN appointment, but you should be fine." He unhooked me and both Ranger and I got discharge papers. Tank drove us home; someone had already taken the Porsche back.

Julie and Diesel were watching a movie when we got back, Julie looked at Ranger's arm with wide eyes but he just gave her a hug and said he was fine. Ella brought up dinner and the four of us ate while Julie and Diesel told us stories about the zoo. We watched another movie until it was time for bed, we got Julie down and then Ranger tucked me into our bed after undressing me.

"I'm going to do some work." Ranger brushed a kiss over my lips and closed the door silently behind him. I fell into a light sleep and woke up when Ranger crawled into the bed next to me. I rolled so I was facing him and my lips found his in the dark. I moved so I was straddling him, eliciting a loud groan.

"Babe, we can't."

"We can." I tilted my hips and slid my soaking wet slit over Ranger's cock a few times before I took him inside of me. I let myself settled down on him gently and began rocking my hips slowly. Ranger's hands settled on my stomach, stroking lightly.

"Dios Babe, you're going to be the end of me. I can't resist you."

"Thank god for small favors," I panted, my breath coming harsher now as I neared orgasm. Rangers hand found my clit and he rubbed it gently, sending me over the edge. He came as I clenched around him over and over. Ranger was chanting 'dios' as his orgasm rolled over him. I slowed my motions and rolled off of him and onto my side. Sleeping on my back was no longer comfortable.

"I love you babe."

"Love you too Ranger."

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**Anyone mind if I skip a few more weeks ahead?**


	49. Ranger and Diesel sittin in a tree

**Another day, another chapter. I have a new story out, it's called "The One With All the Holidays", go check it out!

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Some days seemed to go slower than others, and today was one of the slowest. It just seemed to be taking forever for me to do anything and I was constantly waiting on something or someone. Right now I was waiting for Ranger, Diesel or Julie to come into the bedroom and help me put on some shoes. Damn Burg weather. Only weeks ago it had been more than warm enough to wear flip flops every day. Now it was September and we were having a cold snap that required actual shoes, which I couldn't quite put on myself.

I sighed, "Ranger!" I could have gotten up and went to find someone but it was too much effort. I'd already taken a shower, put on makeup, styled my hair and pulled on my maternity jeans and shirt. Wondering around in hopes of finding one of the people who was supposed to be taking care of me was daunting. Truthfully I was in a pissy mood. I'd been without sugar for the past three months and my body was rebelling. I wanted sugar. Two weeks ago at my week twenty-four appointment I'd been put back on 'light duty' as they were calling it. I had been officially diagnosed with gestational diabetes, but luckily my blood pressure had remained normal.

We'd started childbirth classes and today we were supposed to be taking a tour of the birth center in Manhattan. Of course that would never happen if someone didn't come in to help me get some shoes. I sighed and stood up, making my way into the living room slowly.

"Ranger? Diesel? Julie? Someone?" No one was in the apartment which was just damn weird. I went to the elevator and went down to the control room; Tank was standing right by the elevator. "Tank where is everyone?" The control room was strangely empty, just a few of the new guys manning the monitors.

"It's a surprise. Ranger said you would need these." Tank showed me a pair of my chucks and bent down, guiding one foot into them at a time before lacing them up.

"What's going on Tank?" I frowned at him. I didn't like surprises. Tank shrugged like he didn't know and motioned for me to follow him. We took the elevator to the garage level and Tank boosted me up into one of the SUV's.

"Are we going to my parents? This is the way to my parents!"

Tank grinned at me, "Calm down. Ranger is already there." Thoughts of Ranger immediately calmed me down. I could handle my mother and grandmother if Ranger was there. Mom and grandma Mazur had gone twin crazy. They watched me like hawks, convinced I was going to go into premature labor at any moment.

Tank pulled up behind Ranger's Porsche on my parent's street and helped me out of the SUV. We walked to the front door and I opened it.

A chorus of "SURPRISE!" greeted me as the door swung open. I looked around and smiled. There were a bunch of people in the house, which was decorated for a baby shower.

"You guys!" I was getting hugs and belly rubs now. Even the Merry Men were in attendance. My parent's house was bursting at the seams with people. My dad was conspicuously missing from the sea of faces.

The dining room was stacked with presents and a cake that I wouldn't be able to eat.

"Actually it's a low sugar dark chocolate and fresh raspberry cake. We've attained permission for you to eat some," Ranger whispered into my ear. I turned around and kissed him. One of the Merry Men coughed and Ranger sent whoever it was a dark look over my shoulder.

We did all the normal baby shower games including one where everyone cut off a piece of ribbon that would fit around my stomach. I don't know what upset me more, the people that cut off way too much or the ribbons that didn't nearly wrap around my belly. Diesel won the game and Julie accused him of cheating. I opened presents and we finally got to eat the cake. The only bad part was that I had to go up the stairs ten times in the two hours we were there to go to the bathroom.

After everyone left, Ranger, Julie, Diesel, Tank, Lester I all loaded into the SUV's to go to take the birth center tour. The drive to Manhattan seemed longer than usual but that could have been because I was so restless. We finally got to the birth center and I made a stop in the bathroom before we checked in for our tour.

The nurse taking us on our tour made us all wear name tags with our names and 'positions'. My name tag said, Stephanie: The Mommy, we had Carlos: The Daddy, Julie: The Sister, Diesel: The Backup Coach, Tank: The Bodyguard, and Lester: The Bodyguard. The nurse's eyes opened wide at Diesel, Tank and Lester but she wrote out their tags and put them on their chests herself. Ranger grabbed his and put it on before she could.

We saw the rooms which were something out of a swanky hotel, the surgical suites, the nursery, the NICU, the waiting areas (which were all private) and the café. While Ranger and Diesel were looking at the babies in the nursery the nurse turned to me and smiled. "I think it's just great that you're being a surrogate for them," she said. My mouth dropped open and Ranger and Diesel both turned to look at her.

"I'm not a surrogate. Ranger, er Carlos, is my husband. Diesel's our friend, another bodyguard actually."

"Oh. I'm so sorry. I just thought…um…lets continue on with the tour," she said. I nodded and fell back to walk in between Ranger and Diesel.

I looked at them, "Oh I'm sorry, did you two want to walk together?" They both gave me very scary looks.

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**We're moving on along with this baby business! Good chapter?**


	50. Of Tampons and Teenagers

**Wow! We reached the big Five - Oh! Thanks so much for everyone who has read this story and reviewed it. I love you guys! Enjoy!

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I heard Tank and Lester talking behind us, and one of them made a sound that was something like a giggle. Lester started singing, "Ranger and Diesel, sittin' in a tree…" while Tank hummed along.

I felt Rangers hand tighten in mine and I leaned over and whispered in his ear, "They just want a reaction. Don't give them one." I didn't have to say it to Diesel, he gave a nod when I looked over at him and I knew he'd been spying on my thoughts again. The rest of the tour went well and the prissy girl in me definitely preferred this over the hospital in Trenton.

Ranger made arrangements for me to give birth here and the doctor asked us if we'd like to make arrangements to stay if it happened that I was put on bed rest in the hospital due to the twins. I looked at Ranger and he nodded. We didn't anticipate that being a problem but I guess it didn't hurt to make sure we had a plan in place.

The rest of a night passed in a blur as I became more and more tired. I ate and tried to watch a movie with Ranger and Julie but didn't quite make it. Ranger carried me to bed and went back to the living room to finish up the movie. I woke up when he came back into the bedroom and smiled as he put on PJ's. We'd found out that with a kid in the house you always wore PJ's. Ranger now had PJ bottoms with the batsignal all over them. He still slept without a shirt. I got really hot and I usually slept in shorts and a sports bra. I cuddled up next to him and fell back asleep.

Julie woke me up in the middle of the night. I looked at the clock and panicked, "What is it sweetie? Are you okay?"

"I'm okay. Can you come with me?" Julie asked softly. I got out of bed as quickly and quietly as I could, which at twenty-six weeks pregnant with twins wasn't very quick or quiet.

Ranger stirred and lifted his head. "Waz wrong?" Ranger hadn't been sleeping very well due to my tossing and turning all night, but he refused to let me sleep somewhere else.

"Nothing, go back to sleep." I followed Julie to her room and she paused, she looked at me nervously.

"Er…Stephanie? I got my period," she said quietly. I stood dumbfounded for a second.

"Uh…are you okay? What do you need me to do?" I asked. Cripes. Was that the right thing to ask? I thought I'd have another twelve or thirteen years until I needed to deal with this. And I had no idea what Julie knew or didn't know."

Julie nodded, "I'm fine. But do you have any…uh…you know?" My sleep deprived brain made the connection.

"Oh…uh…" Crap, I'd been pregnant since we'd moved into this house. "Hold on." I walked back to our bathroom and rummaged through my stuff and finally found one single pad at the bottom of a cosmetics bag. I walked back and gave it to Julie. "It's the only one I could find; I'll get dressed and run to the store. Is that okay?" Julie nodded and I went to put on some clothes. One of them men would have to drive me. I was no longer allowed.

Ranger woke up again as I was pulling on my shirt, "Babe? What's going on? Where are you going?" Crap what was I supposed to tell Ranger?

"To the store. Julie just became a woman." Ranger looked at me with a blank face.

"What?" He asked and rubbed a hand over his face and through his hair.

"She got her period. You need to call Rachael tomorrow and find out the extent of Julie's knowledge. I'll be back soon." I kissed Ranger quickly and left him sitting there looking as if someone had told him the earth was really flat.

I took the elevator down to the control center and waved to Cal. "Who can you spare? I need to go to the store."

Cal looked at me suspiciously, "We're not supposed to take you out to get food."

"I don't need food, I need lady products."

"You can't fool me, you're pregnant, you don't need lady products when you're pregnant." Fuck. Leave it to the man who had a flaming skull tattooed on his forehead to know that.

"They're not for me Cal."

"Well they sure as hell aint for Ranger," He said. I saw the wheels trying to turn in his head and made the 'and then' motion with my hands. "No! Our little girl. Oh god. Take Vince."

"Vince! You're with me."

"We're not supposed to get you food anymore." Cripes. I started walking towards the elevator, Vince catching up to my waddle quickly.

"We're not getting food."

Vince helped me into an SUV and I strapped myself in. Ten minutes later we were at Target. I grabbed a basket and Vince followed me, making sure I didn't break down and open a bag of Oreos while in aisle five. His eyes widened when he saw what we were buying and he looked around to make sure no one was watching. I got a few different things, not knowing what she'd like and took my purchases to the front. The only checker was a pimply faced teenage boy.

He looked at my stomach and then at the box of tampons he was holding and raised an eyebrow. Christ. I nodded towards Vince who was looking through a People magazine which brazenly claimed that Brad had cheated on Angelina and gotten Jennifer pregnant. "She's post cosmetic surgery but she hasn't done the big one yet, it embarrasses her to have to buy these," I said in a whisper. Vince threw me a glance and I tried to look innocent. I swiped my AMEX and Vince followed me out of the store.

"What were you talking about with the cashier?" He asked as he boosted me up into the SUV.

"Oh nothing…"

I delivered Julie her bag of goodies and made sure she was okay before climbing back into bed. Ranger put a hand on my stomach and commanded the babies to not grow up so fast and fell asleep. I finally got comfortable by turning sideways on the bed and draping my legs over Ranger's waist. There was a knock and the door opened. The position must have looked naughty.

"Oh…crap…I can come back later."

"Diesel what do you want?" I asked grumpily. I had almost been asleep.

"I don't feel good." And then Diesel threw up on our floor, causing me to sit up and throw up on Ranger.

Ranger looked even more stupefied than he had earlier.

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**Drop me a line to celebrate the big achievement!**


	51. Teeny Tiny Foot

**Okay, it's been a few days, but here you go! Hope you enjoy! Good stuff coming up soon!

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**Ranger POV**

Christ, could anything else go wrong tonight? I looked at Stephanie who suddenly got up and ran for the bathroom. I looked at Diesel who was still a little green, "pop into the guest bathroom. I'll be there in a minute." He nodded and popped away. I used the sheet to wipe off my chest and called Ella as I walked into the bathroom. "Ella I'm sorry to bother you but I've got both Steph and Diesel up here throwing up. Would you mind helping me out?" I heard puking behind me and turned to see Julie looking at me with wide eyes. "Make that Steph, Julie and Diesel." I hung up and went to Julie, "Baby are you okay?"

"I threw up on your floor."

"I see that." I took her hand and led her into the bathroom. Stephanie was sitting with her back against the wall looking like hell. I got them both water and Julie sunk down next to Stephanie. "I'll be right back okay?" I jogged to the guest bath to talk to Diesel, "What's going on?"

"I think we got food poisoning."

"I'm not sick; we all ate the same thing."

"You didn't eat dessert." Diesel said and hung his head. Huh. He's right. I hadn't eaten dessert, and this time it seemed to have paid off.

"Wait, Steph didn't eat dessert either," I reminded him.

"Erm…Steph might've eaten a piece while you were in the bathroom…"

I sighed, of course she had. Only Steph could gobble down a whole dessert in the minute I'd been gone. "You okay man? I need to go check on the girls."

"Yeah, go."

Ella came in as I was walking past the elevator. "Hey, Diesel's in there, the girls are in my bathroom. Can you check on Diesel?" Ella nodded and when I got to the bathroom I found Stephanie throwing up again.

I grabbed my cell phone and called Bobby. "Hey man, can you come on up? The girls are both sick and so is Diesel. He thinks they have food poisoning." I hung up and grabbed a wash cloth and cleaned myself up as good as I could without a shower.

"Babe did you eat that mousse at dinner?" Steph turned her head to look at me.

"Nope."

"Liar." I gave her a drink of water. Bobby came in and took a look at the girls. He said Julie would be fine but that we should take Stephanie in to the hospital. He was worried about dehydration and her blood pressure.

"I don't want to go to the hospital." Stephanie whined. I gave her a bowl and scooped her up. Ella was going to stay with Julie and Diesel while we went to get Stephanie checked out. Bobby drove while I sat next to Stephanie, stroking her hair. She was murmuring to the babies as we drove and rubbing her beautiful stomach. "Ouch! That was a hard kick, someone is unhappy." She pulled up her shirt and I could see the movement under her skin. I pressed my hand to her stomach and grinned as one of my little girls kicked me. "They're gonna be fighters like their daddy." Steph said with a big smile.

We got to the hospital and a nurse took us to a room, she clucked as she took Stephanie's blood pressure. Not a good sign. She took some blood and then hooked Stephanie up to a fetal monitor. Dr. Jacobson came in, looking like we'd woke her up.

"Hi Stephanie, Carlos. What seems to be the problem tonight?"

"Stephanie ate some mousse that had raw eggs in it, as did my daughter and our friend, now they're all sick," I said.

"Ah. Okay, here's what going on. You're dehydrated, that's easy enough to fix. However, you have preeclampsia, which is what we've been hoping wouldn't happen. We're going to keep you on the fetal monitor for a while. Both babies seem to be doing fine right now. No need to panic okay?" Both Stephanie and I nodded.

They transferred Stephanie to the maternity floor and put her on an IV to give her fluids. She was exhausted and fell into a deep sleep after only a few minutes.

**Stephanie's POV**

When I woke up the sun was shining through the hospital window, I patted my belly and turned my head to look for Ranger.

"Good morning babe, babies." He stood up and came to press his lips to mine. A nurse bustled in just then all cheerful and smiley. She looked at my monitors and made a few notes on my charts. She left and a few minutes later Dr. Jacobson came in.

"Alright Stephanie, you are at 26 weeks right now, you've got gestational diabetes and preeclampsia. We're going to keep you in the hospital for at least a couple of weeks. If you hit week 28 with no problems you get to leave."

I looked worriedly at Ranger and then back to Dr. Jacobson, "No, I can't be in the hospital for two weeks!"

"Stephanie if you go into premature labor now each of your babies has less than a 50 change of survival. Every week, every day you can give them increases their chances."

Well when she said it like that. Ugh. "Okay. Of course." I looked at my stomach and stroked it. "You hear that? You two need to behave so mommy doesn't go crazy in here." Ranger chuckled.

Our days fell into a boring pattern of sitting and Jell-O. I was allowed up for short walks and bathroom breaks. Julie came to the hospital every day after school, everyone else visited me at random times, trying to keep me entertained.

My blood pressure stayed a little on the high side but after two weeks of nothing happening it was decided that I could go home. The morning of my release dawned bright and early and I couldn't have been more excited. I'd been stuck in this bed for so long that my back was hurting. I moved a little and my stomach tightened. Ranger talked to me for a little while and then the nurse came in. She looked at my fetal monitors and then looked at me.

"Honey are you feeling okay?" She asked.

"Yeah…why?" I looked at Ranger and he shrugged. The nurse smiled and said she would be right back. "Ranger! What's wrong?"

"I don't know babe, she didn't seem worried. I'm sure everything is fine." Ranger bent down and laid a kiss on my lips.

I heard the door open and Dr. Jacobson chuckled, "Still at it I see." I grinned and looked at her. She went to look at the outputs from the fetal monitor. "Stephanie are you sore anywhere? Any tightness?" She asked.

"Uh, my back hurts? My stomach was kind of tight earlier for a moment? What's wrong?"

"Stephanie you've had a few contractions. They're not regular and you are not in labor yet. This could be nothing but I want to transfer you to the birth center and keep you there."

"Keep me there for how long?"

"Until you give birth," She said with an apologetic smile.

I nodded, not in the mood to argue. If this is what was best for the babies then this is what we would do. They gave me some type of medication and when they were sure I wasn't going to have anymore contractions I was transferred to the birthing center in Manhattan.

After another week of bed rest I was quite literally going insane. Ranger was in Trenton doing some business stuff and Tank was here keeping me entertained. One of the girls was pushing against my stomach; I could see my PJ top moving a little. I pulled it up, "Hey Tank look!"

He glanced down at the perfect outline of a teeny tiny foot pressing against my stomach. "Holy Hell." And then Tank fell over backwards.

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**Soon we get to the good stuff!**


	52. Holly Havana, is that like Hanna Montana

It was Christmas Eve day and we had more than one reason to celebrate. I'd made it. I was considered full term for a woman pregnant with twins. If I didn't go into labor tonight I would be given a C-section tomorrow, Christmas.

My family and friends had all come to the hospital and I'd been allowed to walk to one of the family rooms and have dinner with everyone. It was one of the first times I'd been allowed up for anything besides bathroom breaks in months. I'd even spent Thanksgiving in bed.

We'd eaten and now we were opening some presents. Just the gifts to and from me were being opened tonight at the hospital. I'd done all my shopping online and had wrapped everything super elaborately. What else did I have time to do with my time? I'd gotten Ranger, Julie, Diesel and the Merry Men iPhones because everyone loved the one I'd gotten for my birthday so much. Ranger also got a new gun and a manly camo print diaper bag. He thought that was awesome. I gave Julie a bunch of trendy clothes that Ranger scowled at. Diesel got season tickets to the Knicks. Mom, Val and Grandma got gift certificates so they could join Julie and I for a spa day. I got my dad a new TV.

Ranger gave me a gorgeous set of platinum dog tags so that we'd match. One had our names engraved and he said he'd get the other engraved with the twin's names as soon as we knew them. He also gave me a set of "Your Turn" coupons, basically I could give him one anytime I was tired and he'd take care of the twins. The best gift he gave me was a simple slip of paper. I looked over it confusedly; it was the front page from the military file. Finally I saw the good part. Status: Retired. I hugged him and grinned ear to ear.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure Babe."

Julie and Diesel gave me babysitting coupons much like Ranger's and Diesel also gave me a huge iTunes gift card and some Bose earbuds so that I could download music to 'drown out the crying'. I was starting on the gifts from the Merry Men when my eyes started to droop.

Ranger noticed and sighed, "Sorry guys, the rest is going to have to wait for tomorrow. Someone is very tired." I said goodnight to everyone and Merry Christmas. I didn't know who I'd be seeing tomorrow. Ranger scooped me up and carried me to my room. He sat down in the armchair and I sighed, "baby take the kids home. I'll be fine for the night. Spend the morning with Julie."

"You sure?"

"Yeah it's Christmas! Just remember to bring my stocking in the morning!" I said with a grin. Ranger gave me a kiss and flipped off my light as he left.

When I woke up Christmas morning it was to a new male nurse.

"Do you think it would be okay if I took a shower?" I asked.

"That should be fine. Uh, do I need to send someone in to help?" He asked.

Not very nurse like. "No, I'll be fine." He nodded and gave me a very strange look. He turned to go and I saw the flash of metal under his scrubs when he lifted his arm slightly. Fuck. Ranger wouldn't put a new man on me. No way. I got up and checked the door. Locked. I didn't see my guards in the hall. Something was seriously wrong. I grabbed my gun from the drawer and locked myself in the bathroom and called Ranger.

"Ranger? There's a new nurse, a guy, he had a gun. He locked my door from the outside."

"I want you to lock yourself in the bathroom; I'm going to call the hospital. I'm on my way. Don't open the door for anyone but me." The line disconnected.

Fuck that. It would be way too easy to get through that door. I looked around me and saw the air vent. It was a big enough that I could get through it. I carefully climbed onto the sink and got the vent cover lose. It was harder than it should've been to pull myself up thanks to my sixty extra pounds. Somehow I managed it. I crawled over the opening so that I could close the vent. I wouldn't be able to turn around. I crawled back a few feet and then heard knocking.

Crap. This was so bad. I was stuck in an air vent waiting for Ranger. The knocking changed to pounding and my heart started racing. I heard the yelling. Someone had to hear what was going on. But no one came and then the door crashed in. He'd know where I was. There wasn't anywhere else I could be. I started backing up slowly into the dark. Hopefully he wouldn't be able to see me. I leveled the gun and waited. The vent came off and his head stuck in, "Come here you little bitch. I'm going to nail you good."

I shot him three times in the head. I heard him fall and then a huge thwack as his body hit the ground. I called Ranger. "

"Babe?"

"I shot him."

"Christ."

"You need to hurry. I'm stuck in an air vent."

"Ok, we're almost there," he said. I sighed in relief.

He stayed on the phone with me and within minutes I had him and several Merry Men helping me out of the air vent. I was stepping down onto the sink when my water broke. "OH!"

Lester spoke darkly, "Please tell me you didn't just pee on me?"

"No. That was amniotic fluid. I'm in labor."

Ranger gave me a panicked look, "The reason no one did anything was that the guy drugged all the doctors and nurses. They were operating on a skeleton crew until you're doctors came in for the c-section."

"Call Dr. Jacobson!"

Within twenty minutes there were several new doctors and nurses not mention paramedics and police at the birthing center. I was moved to a new room and Dr. Jacobson came.

"Stephanie how long have you been having contractions?"

"Since early this morning. I thought it was Braxton Hicks again and then with all the excitement…"

"Okay well you're going to have these babies soon. You're progressing very quickly. We're going to give you your epidural now if you still want one?"

I nodded, "Please give me drugs!" My stomach was constricting violently. It hurt a lot.

Ranger was trying to help me breathe through it, "I don't think fucking breathing is going to help Carlos!"

"Hey you called me Carlos!"

I don't remember what I said next but I know it wasn't pretty.

Four hours and one emergency c-section later I finally got to hold my baby girls.

Ranger was sitting next to me and watching me with a dreamy look on his face.

"What are their names Babe?" Ranger asked.

"Holly Havana and Daniela Noelle."

"Holly Havana? No."

"Hmm it didn't sound so strange in my head. Daniela Faith and Havana Joy? Daniela Winter and Havana Noelle? Merry Daniela and Havana Noelle? Can they have the same middle name? Can they have two?"

"I don't see why not."

"Okay, Daniela Faith Noelle and Havana Joy Noelle."

Ranger smiled at me, "Perfect. Just like their mother."

"So…when do we get to start working on another?"

"As soon as I get over the horror of seeing them pulled from your stomach."

"I love you Carlos."

"I love you Stephanie."

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**THE END!**


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